Quarterly Update: The other side of the coin

In my last quarterly report, I reflected upon the tremendous impact we have been making in the communities we are working in, such as providing access to adequate sanitation facilities to over 500 school children in Namibia. Looking at the numbers was a great way to visualize the direct outcomes of our activities on the planet and people we are serving.

In this report, I would like to take a closer look at the other side of the coin, namely the financial sustainability of our company and how we plan to achieve it.

Moving closer to the problem

• In January 2021, we made one of our biggest strategic decisions to date, which was to move our headquarters and main operations to Rundu. The logistics of moving our inventory of waterless toilets from the capital city to our new home covered almost 750km in distance.
• We incurred a huge once off cost of nearly N$ 19,000. A heavy price to pay in the short term but one that we believe will provide bigger returns in the long run. Ultimately, moving our project to Rundu means we can bring sanitation services closer to underserved communities.
• Rundu has the second highest population with +63,431 (NSA, 2011) inhabitants among all towns in Namibia. When we got here, I decided to forgo many of the comforts that come with living in a big city and instead joined a small community on the outskirts of town called Kaisosi.

Living in the communities where the people are experiencing the problem provides me with a unique insight to effect the greatest change. For Flushh to remain an innovative and impactful company, we believe our proximity to the problem is one of our biggest assets.

• This strategy of moving to Rundu is not without risk: it requires more startup capital for us to get up and running, and crisp execution against increasingly uncertain economic conditions with the rise of the COVID-19 DELTA VARIANT.

Bouncing Back

The months of June and July were one of the hardest we experienced to date as we reported a cumulative loss of -N$ 40,000 mainly due to prolonged lockdowns and restrictions. This played a major role on our mental health as a team but we remained steadfast on achieving our overall mission. It’s one thing to not have the resources to address a problem; it’s another to not have the will.

We are still standing on a shaky base financially and any gust of wind can blow us over. Although we are currently on a 30 day high coming off the back of continued support from angel investors such as Auri, Patrick, Jim and Val Cross.

This financial support which comes in the form of short term loans will give us much needed breathing room to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic.

Optimizing for Pricing

Furthermore, It’s not surprising that at the peak of the delta variant, that’s when our community needed us the most. Traditionally when someone passes away, hundreds of people travel from far and surrounding villages to the homestead of the deceased to celebrate their legacy and pay their last respect.

Unfortunately, a common problem is that there’s only one toilet facility for 80 -100 people to share. The situation can quickly turn into one that’s unhygienic and some choose to walk uncomfortable distances to find a bush to help themselves.

This is how we found ourselves at the frontlines of the pandemic, serving community members with hygienic waterless toilets. We set out to offer our users something they could not get any other way. Our Eco-toilets helped restore the dignity of the family members by providing a clean and safe environment for all the users.

• So when people first reached out to us to help them with this problem, there was a mismatch between the price we charged and the value we offered.
• Initially we charged N$ 300 per toilet per day. This was not enough to cover our operating costs so we priced ourselves too low. One of the main reasons for this was because we also didn’t fully understand the value we were offering with our product and service.
• But the more people used our eco toilets the more they encouraged others to do the same. Word was spreading to others with us doing very little marketing. This was because people quickly realized that the value they received for the price they paid was greater.
• As we continued to experience more product led growth, we increased our price to N$ 1,499.00 per toilet per day. In Q3, we generated N$ 14,900 through our B2C model and total revenue of N$ 150,174 through the B2B model. We believe there are significant opportunities to better serve our users through sanitation as a service model, such as reducing delivery times and better tailoring the user experience.
• We are also planning to add ESG points for corporations and biochar to our product offering, and over time we believe that other products for households may be prudent investments as well.

We are still in the early stages of learning how to bring new value to our users by providing access to adequate sanitation. Our goal over the next 18 months is to continue to solidify and extend our brand and customer base through traditional channels. This however requires sustained investment in systems and infrastructure to support outstanding customer convenience, and service while we grow. To be certain, a big part of the challenge for us will lie not in finding new ways to expand our business, but in prioritizing our investments to fulfill the growing demand.

Finally, we feel good about what we have done so far, and even more excited about what we want to do in the future. So now that the COVID threat is sort of dying down, let’s not return to normal — let’s return to bigger and better.

Kv Tjatjara

CEO & Founder

Flushh