ACCION New Mexico·Arizona∙Colorado
Scale-up Strategy:
| The goals and objective |
- Conducting strategic planning and acquiring market feedback
- Improving loan loss process efficiency
- Creating sales culture
- Improving lead generation
- Increasing visibility
- Looking at new markets to achieve scale
- Improving conversion rates of qualified applicants into borrowers
- Credit modeling project with ACCION Texas
- Increase focus on customer retention
Progress Update as of May 2009:
ACCION New Mexico has made progress on the marketing piece of its scale strategy: |
- Convened a “Visibility Committee” to assist in increasing visibility in the marketplace as a strategy for generating greater loan demand. The formal committee and subsequent staff meetings have resulted in donated billboard space and low-cost and/or earned television and radio coverage.
- Partnering with ACCION Texas to perform loan underwriting, ACCION New Mexico is now able to focus on more complicated large loan requests that generate greater interest per loan. In the first half of 2009, lending volume is up 92 percent and loan disbursements are up 117 percent compared to same time period in 2008.
- Dedicated to recruiting, training and retaining “A+” staffers.
- Creating a sales culture in the office that focuses on client relationship maintenance and new lead generation.
- Launched a new Web site in 2008 as part of increasing visibility.
- Began construction of its new office in the historic Sawmill District of Albuquerque, N.M. The new office will allow greater accessibility to public transportation and increased parking space for entrepreneurs with disabilities.
Background:
Founded in 1994, ANM has reached high levels of market penetration, and has historically been among the highest performers, in the microenterprise field. Recently expanded into larger small business loans up to $150,000.
Core Microenterprise Services: |
- Microenterprise loans between $200 and $50,000
- Technical assistance to accompany loan products
Highlights: |
- ACCION New Mexico has created a new loan product focused on meeting the needs of entrepreneurs who have had problems managing their spending and debt.
- Partnering with ACCION Texas to study and assist in developing a credit-scoring model based on experience with borrowers in their market.
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Current Scale:
FY2005: 1,083 clients and 431 microloans FY2006: 920 clients; 92 microloans
FY2007: 817 clients; 148 microloans
FY2008: 666 clients; 448 loans
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Scale Projections:
FY2009: 608 clients; 400 loans
FY2010: 702 clients; 508 loans |
Learning Questions:
Market position: The most critical issue facing ACCION New Mexico is: What is the competitive, defensible niche for microcredit organizations in the shifting market?
Self-sufficiency: What products or services desired by the target market can generate enough revenue to allow significant financial self-sufficiency?
Microequity: What is the market potential for microequity and what lessons have been learned?
Defining the market: Do current definitions of microenterprise constrain the market segment too narrowly? Do we need to expand to other target markets or products in order to achieve scale?
