Video from group n° 111
Welcome to the webpage of group 111[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
The topic we have decided to explore is the following :
We want to find solutions to face the problem of lack of financing for projects using the social and solidarity economy
Our video[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
Our paper[modifier | modifier le wikicode]
The term social and solidarity economy (SSE) is increasingly being used to refer to a broad range of organizations that are distinguished from conventional for-profit enterprise, entrepreneurship and informal economy by two core features. First they have explicit economic and social (and often environmental) objectives. Second, they involve varying forms of co- operative, associative and solidarity relations. However, the road undertaken by such companies that have a willingness to be axed on this economy has been fraught with pitfalls. This observation droves us to a simple question: What are the issues that currently face such businessmen? and How to deal with it?
Olivier Naudin, CEO of Simelectro and President of Simindustries Group is a good representative and example of the issues that are facing many director of companies. It is not only one sector that are hit by this issues. Like Olivier, CEO of an industry company, a lot of entrepreneurs from different horizons, backgrounds and cultures are facing the same two main issues: the lack of funding and the lack of support to run their businesses.
• What is your field of activity?
Simelectro and Simindustries are in high voltage busbars. We are specialized in IPB and NSPB which are to simplify connection between a power plant such as hydropower plan, thermal etc... Thanks to this specialization we are able to give an expertise in order to reduce the loss of energy of power plant and improve their capacities.
• What are the main issues that your company have to face in the recent year?
First of all, we have to face an intensive competition especially in growing and emerging countries like the Southern Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia) ones. These countries want a cheap project and they want it done in a really short period so Chinese companies are fierce competitors in these market and it is why we have opened in 2011 a subsidiary in China to reduce the time of production and delivery, and to be able to communicate with our partners in Asia more efficiently. The other issue that we have to face is the price. Chinese and Korean firms can produce a product quit similar to ours but cheaper so we have to find a way to reduce our production cost, however we didn’t decide to follow this road. Simelectro always give a particular attention to quality that is why we don’t want to buy our raw material in China because we didn’t find yet a good supplier of cooper. The last issue that we have to face is an issue that came from our willingness of having an ethical view of the business, we are trying to design an IPB or NSPB to make them good in order to be more efficient and to have less impact on the environment. That’s why Asian Market are a real challenge because they are in a transition from coal and nuclear power plant to thermal and hydro power plant (like the Three Gorge Dam). All of these issues could have been avoided if we have been supported on this launch by a financial structured axed on the SSE with a huge understanding of our situation.
• Have you ever faced issues concerning the funding of your company?
We are an “old” company so we have a basis of investors. Because of the crisis of 2008 and the drop in price by the Koreans and the Chineses, we have lose money and we were in legal redress during one year. It became more and more difficult to convince our investors that focusing in green power plant and trying to save energy as much as we can by producing high quality product with copper that came from Belgium etc...
• So what did you do? Are you still in legal redress?
No, we can say that we are lucky because we fought hard to protect what we think as essential, green energy. We have found solidary investors on Caisse Solidaire and they trust us so now we are back, and we just have won a project in South Korea for a hydro power plant and in Saudi Arabia for a thermal power plant
As you understand, Olivier get out of this situation (legal redress etc...) thanks to an organization axed on the SSE and he truly agreed that it would helped the company to build a better future and foundation. This issue is prevalent and present in numerous companies and we need to respond to it right now, and for that we need you!
