F Reid McLain
Mercer on Mission: Rwanda
The Project
Mercer on Mission Rwanda partners with MindLeap's Kigali branch, a nonprofit family-strengthening program, to help small business owners build and optimize their operations. Our group worked with four entrepreneurs: two running shoe-selling businesses, one managing a milk and cake shop, and one operating a diapers and feminine products store.
I took a leadership role in executing the team's business development plans. I delegated marketing strategy to our marketing major and financial planning to our accounting major so I could focus on my specialty: cross-cultural communication.
This turned out to be the most critical piece of the work. Our translator Alphonse was knowledgeable in English but needed a patient counterpart who could explain concepts multiple ways until they landed. I was especially focused on making sure our female business owners grasped core financial fundamentals. Drawing on my math background, I stripped each concept down to its simplest, most actionable form before working with Alphonse to carry it across.
The challenge was real. Limited formal education on one side and an imperfect translation chain on the other meant we had to be meticulous about not losing meaning through what amounted to a complex communication relay. The marketing materials our team produced came out excellent. As you can see in the photos, every one of these shops was completely unmarked before our visit. Finally, through MindLeap's partnership with Mercer we were able to secure small business loans at negligible interest rates, giving each owner a real path to expansion.
Photos
Marketing Collateral
We produced marketing materials and business cards for all four businesses — a small thing with an outsized impact when your shop has no sign and your customers have no easy way to refer you.
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