VisionSpring

in

VisionSpring: Seeing the Way Back to Work

A compelling problem: Over 700 million of the world’s poorest people suffer from uncorrected presbyopia - far-sightedness – and lack access to reading glasses they can afford. With affordable reading glasses, their productivity, incomes and quality of life are dramatically improved

Mission

Get vision-impaired people back to work

The idea

A micro-franchise supply chain for the sale of glasses to poor people who have lost livelihoods due to uncorrected far-sightedness and near- sightedness

How it works

  • Source high-quality, cheap glasses
  • Invest heavily in social marketing campaigns to create “pull markets”
  • Sell the glasses through 2 main channels: franchise partners (like BRAC) and proprietary vision entrepreneurs
  • Maximize financial sustainability by improving margins and reaching scale

How it will go to scale

Via NGO’s, including franchise partners and Vision Spring’s own growth. Earned revenues will offset the donor subsidies needed to expand into new markets and new products. Eventually the market may take over as glasses become a cheap and available commodity.

Progress so far

International scale up: VisionSpring sold 209,000 glasses in 2010 and expects to sell 300,000 in 2011. Their main markets are India, Bangladesh (BRAC), and El Salvador.

Visit the website

www.visionspring.org

Over 700 million of the world’s poorest people suffer
from uncorrected near and far-sightedness

and lack access to glasses they can afford. Dr. Jordan Kassalow launched VisionSpring (formerly known as Scojo) in 2002 to make reading glasses available to the millions of people who are losing their livelihoods simply because they cannot see up close. In 2009 they launched a sales partnership with BRAC that will get 3 million pairs of glasses into the hands of customers by 2015. In addition to BRAC, they have scaling distribution channels in India and El Salvador, proving that a $3 pair of reading glasses can boost productivity and income, lengthen careers, and make life much better. In 2010 they expanded their product offerings in El Salvador to include prescription glasses that treat myopia (near-sightedness). In 2011 this hugely successful pilot will be expanded to all of their proprietary vision entrepreneur channels. The prospects for impact have never been clearer.



A compelling problem

Over 700 million of the world’s poorest people suffer from uncorrected presbyopia and myopia – and lack access to glasses they can afford. With affordable glasses, their productivity, incomes and quality of life are dramatically improved.

A scalable solution

Mulago assesses scalability based on five characteristics common to efforts that have taken lasting impact to scale.

Real impact: A recent randomized control trial by the University of Michigan found a 20% increase in income for buyers of VisionSpring reading glasses. For buyers whose incomes are an average of $2/day, this represents an additional $110/year (at 275 days of work) of additional income.

Cost-effective: Using the Mulago metric of additional three-year income per donor dollar, in 2010 VisionSpring increased 3-year income of its customers by $330/ person at a donor cost of $8/person, or $41 of additional income per donor dollar.

Lasting behavior: The market-based approach ensures that customers want and use products and that a profitable value chain remains in place.

Easy replication: VisionSpring’s micro-franchise model is simple, highly structured and broadly adaptable. The product (mostly reading glasses) is already mass- produced at low cost. Expansion plans leverage existing distribution channels of other organizations (e.g. BRAC).

A viable route to scale: Micro-franchise sales powered by a global network of distribution partners can drive exponential growth of VisionSpring’s impact.

Capacity to deliver

VisionSpring grew their sales from 15,000 units in 2005 to 209,000 units in 2010 and is on track to sell 300,000 units in 2011. To support and drive this growth, Jordan built an outstanding management team, raised sufficient capital and constructed a cost-effective worldwide supply chain. In early 2010, they completed a rigorous impact evaluation and incorporated the appropriate lessons in their operation and strategy.

updated June 2011