Bpeace in Afghanistan (Again)

Business partnering outside the family is not in the Afghan DNA. But at yesterday’s training session, the Afghan genetic code may have been rewritten. 11 of our associates have decided to cross family lines and invest and partner in a joint retail store. This is big news. At first, their recommendation was that Bpeace buy them land to build the store. LOL But it may have been a bit of a negotiating ploy, because instead Toni suggested that perhaps Bpeace would cost-share their rent for a limited time, after we reviewed a business plan for the store. After a bit of discussion, they thought this was a good idea.

There are many hurdles. Toni threw out several. Will you pay your salespeople straight salary or salary plus commission? The discussion was fascinating. After starting with straight salary and offering the salesperson small gifts if he/she did well, they moved onto salary/commission so that the salesperson would have a vested interest in the growth of the business.

And what if one of the partners can’t pay her share of the rent that month because her products didn’t sell that month? They came up with the idea of a “charity box.” Each partner would put in 1% of sales into this reserve fund, so that a partner could borrow from it in any given month to pay the rent.

It was WONDERFUL to see the associates debate different aspects of the store. Toni suggested that they submit a plan to Bpeace by the middle of June, so that they could get the store opened by October when the next mission is here, so Bpeace could attend the grand opening.

We have been promoting partnership among the associates for a while, and the December Bpeace mission suggested a joint store, but got a cool reception by the associates at the time. Seeds get sown. Eventually something sprouts. If Bpeace is patient enough, our messages break through.