FIELDWORK
On-Boarding Our Very First Merchant
Collaborating With IDFC Bank
Our team began fieldwork in the month of July 2017, in partnership with IDFC Bank. While work hours are long and taxing, the reward of acquiring a merchant after multiple rounds of pitching definitely makes our efforts worthwhile. Above, are some of the merchants we have acquired: a bag-seller and repair shop in Nagashettihalli and a travel agency in Sanjaynagar, Bangalore.
Above, we see Christine making a presentation in Chennai, India to a group of women from the rural part of the city. She is on the board of advisors for this local school.
Getting on the ground to start the merchant acquisition process after months of brainstorming, partnership-building, and dreaming has been a challenging yet gratifying experience. We've grown together as a team as we've worked on transforming our idea into reality. We've shared many light moments through the process, with Kinder Joy Surprise Eggs becoming our driving source (we now house an entire collection of toys). We've honed our pitching skills, and can now present our idea in both Hindi and English with ease. Working with individuals from diverse religious, cultural, and educational backgrounds has also heightened our understanding of the people of rural India, given us insights into their thought process, and helped us re-strategize to continue working toward our goal of on-boarding 100 merchants by October 2017.