Hey Amanda and Dave!
Thanks so much for your questions. People are always really curious about the process of finding new entrepreneurs and I think it's probably one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of this project. Generally, our existing entrepreneurs and EG Nepal staff (4 staff members total) will hold a "Call for Applications" where interested women are invited to come and learn about the basic principles of renewable energy, small business ownership and what EG is offering. After identifying potential candidates they participate in a Capacity Building Workshop to get more in depth training on things like accounting, marketing and human resources. All candidates submit a business proposal which is then reviewed by EG staff and ultimately the new entrepreneurs are chosen.
We find that this process helps us determine which entrepreneurs are self-motivated with strong ideas that have the potential to turn into successful business models.
Our local staff in EG Nepal consists of 4 team members who act as Program Coordinator (2), Country Director and Financial Officer. It's a lot of work for 4 people but our staff is incredibly committed and gets constant support from those of us working from NYC, LA and the Netherlands.
Our Communications Director is in Nepal right now working on some exciting new initiatives and we will be updating you as soon as possible on those, check back tomorrow!
We'll be posting a user experience map later today (adding finishing touches now!) and hope this helps give everyone a clear idea of our current business model combined with our new PAYG/mobile money program. We really look forward to hearing from everyone about their thoughts, ideas and suggestions for us moving forward.

Thanks again, can't wait for feedback!

Hi Dave! Thanks for your comment.
Right now 3 of our biggest hurdles are financing, staff/training and local vendors. Finance is an obvious one that most of us here probably know about - creating enough capital to be able to take our project to scale. Secondly is finding the right sales agents and entrepreneurs and making sure they are properly trained in all necessary fields including mobile and solar technology plus small business skills. Our third concern at the moment is finding the right local marketing operations to make sure our project succeeds and inspires a hard-to-reach customer base.

Thanks so much for your question, I hope we shed some light on things for you!

Love this idea, and as an organization with a growing network of solar technology users we could probably benefit from programs like yours. What kind of criteria or characteristics are you looking for in the proposed projects or ideas who could be considered? Are there a range of possibilities for both small pilots and projects looking to scale impact?

Can't wait to see where this goes!