Microfranchise: Ruma Pulsa

In Indonesia, 75% of the population — or 180 million people — live below the international poverty line of $2.50/day. 63% of the population earns their economic livelihood in the informal sector, with little bargaining power, little or no access to efficient supply chains and highly variable and unpredictable sources of income. Despite this, over 150 million mobile devices are active in the market.

Ruma is currently offering its flagship “microfarnchise” business, Rumah Pulsa, a telecommunications kiosk that enables the entrepreneur to sell prepaid airtime to their community. Ruma sells the business kit, which contains a phone, promotion materials, and an operating manual for $23 to a future franchisee.

Customers who want to buy minutes will give the franchisee their operator name, phone number and cash. The franchisee then sends an Short Text Message (s) with this information to Ruma’s server. In response, the server deducts the franchisees inventory of minutes and sends the prepaid minutes to the subscriber’s handset. Thus the franchisee no longer needs multiple chips.

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