Tunisia - Business creation project

Describe your project or startup in a few words

TIM'ESS is a project that aims to create an enjoyable outdoors experience by providing its users with organic fire starters that facilitate their activities and protect the environment. Putting the social and environmental at the heart of every experience

01.01 Describe your project in more detail

TIM'ESS, which means fire in Amazigh, is a company dedicated to recycling pine tree needles to create entirely organic, environmentally-friendly and water-repellent fuel products. These fuel products consist of fire starters and fuel pellets that enable users to cook food, light a campfire or start their chimneys. Our mission goes beyond recycling substances that bear so much risk to the environment. We strive to transform them into products that improve everyday life and the outdoor experience, given their crucial importance to the well-being of our consumers.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

The problem present at hand is that more than 60% of the people we surveyed in our market research study, expressed feeling frustrated when trying to light a fire, whether indoors or outdoors. They reported that it is a process that requires both time and effort, making the absence of options that could facilitate this process a market gap. Users need a fire starter to light the charcoal on a barbecue. Current solutions involve wasting a great deal of time and effort, and are often frustrating, such as lighting pieces of charcoal manually on a gas cooker or using cardboard. Some alternatives even involve the use of liquid chemicals such as petrol or fuel, which are harmful to health and the environment. These clear problems not only have negative impact on the well-being of users but also affect the indoor or outdoor experience, and present harmful environmental challenges linked to the use of chemicals, affecting both the environment and users.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your project intends to provide (at least 3).

Our product offers multiple benefits to users. First, its formula is 100% organic, which is a core characteristic that we worked on for two years to ensure that the gas emissions produced during the combustion of our fire starters have no harmful effect on the health of our consumers. Added to that, our product is water and moisture resistant, which means that it can ignite and produce heat even when wet or damp, making it easier to light a fire or prepare a meal. Our fire starters and fuel pellets do not require more than 6 to 8 seconds to light up which is a record time that ensures quick and easy combustion and no frustration. Furthermore, our product has a combustion time of up to 15 minutes and a high combustion efficiency that can boil 1L of water in 15 minutes. These unique features enable the users to enjoy their camping, hiking or even climbing experiences without worrying about the weather changes or the water spilling in their bags or not being able to find wood.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your project is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

We aim to serve a multitude of clients, any consumer who is enthusiastic about outdoor activities or even indoor fires is within our client base. Our target client base is diverse, encompassing several user segments, each with significant growth potential. That being said, we aim to start by serving three key segments. The first is barbecue enthusiasts, a popular year-round activity in Tunisia, with strong demand during the Eid Al Adhha season. The second segment includes fireplace owners who have difficulty lighting their fireplaces. In addition, we are targeting outdoor enthusiasts, such as campers, climbers and summer visitors, who make up a large part of our market, as their activity is not necessarily seasonal.

01.05 When did you start working on your project?

2022-08-11

01.06 How many other partners are associated with your business venture?

4

01.07 Among the other partners, how many are female?

2

01.08 Please describe the profile of each of the other partners (skills, experience, etc.)

Our founding team consists of : Mohamed Ali Ben Abdallah, co-founder and CEO, is a computer engineer with an EMBA. He is also CEO of Lezarts Digital, a digital agency with over 12 years' experience. Taoufik Ben Abdallah, co-founder and Product Manager, is the inventor of the idea. He is a graduate engineer from the Fondouk Jedid military academy in applied weapons science, and has over 9 years' military experience as an officer. Dorra Bouguella, co-founder and COO, holds a bachelor's degree from Tunis Business School in Business Analytics and Marketing. She has extensive experience in sustainable development (alumna of Unleash and Safir) and in management and innovation consulting at EY. Rania Chouchene, co-founder and CFO, holds a bachelor's degree from Tunis Business School in Finance and Economics. She has extensive experience in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, notably as a former program manager at Open Startup, and as an independent statistical analyst.

01.09 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link here:

https://timess.store/

01.10 Which industry best describes your project?

Other: Outdoor Recreation and Consumer Goods

02.01.01 My project contributes to the No poverty goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification

02.02.01 My project contributes to the Zero hunger goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification

02.03.01 My project contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification

02.04.01 My project contributes to the Quality education goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification

02.05.01 My project contributes to the Gender equality goal

6

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification

At Tim’ess, we stand behind gender equality as a guiding principle for our work policies by giving women the equal opportunity to partake in our work environment. We strive to implement this through offering the women in our local communities with good incomes and dignified working conditions, social services and protections, and sources of affiliation and solidarity that have positive effects upon their health and wellbeing. In this project, we prioritize people over profit thus we will not be subjecting women to any level of occupational segregation, rather we will ensure equal access to leadership positions, promotion opportunities and equal pay. Given the context of our operational environment, we estimate that women in the region of Zaghouen have to shoulder a disproportionate burden of household maintenance and caregiving activities, thus we aim to create small get-togethers to raise awareness about the importance of gender equality and the role of women in local communities.

02.06.01 My project contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification

02.07.01 My project contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification

02.08.01 My project contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification

Our project is driven by a set of values that prioritize care for people and the planet, equality, fairness, accountability, and the attainment of decent work and livelihoods. This is embodied by our commitment to implementing our project in the rural areas of Zaghouen, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. This choice of location has been deliberate in order to improve the income and livelihood of the local community. Our approach is not limited to employment, we also aim to provide skills development and training to upskill our team of workers. In this dimension, our work is centered around building competencies and retaining workers to enhance their livelihoods. In addition to that, we are under the obligation to promote compliance with the fundamental principles and rights at work, but we will also engage with partners and undertake joint initiatives with other community actors to promote and advance the fundamental principles and rights at work.

02.09.01 My project contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification

02.10.01 My project contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

2

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification

02.11.01 My project contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

2

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification

02.12.01 My project contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification

The name we chose for our project Tim’ESS carries the significance of the social and solidarity economy in its calling theoretically and practically. Our mission is centered around embodying an alternative view of the economy which puts the environment and people in the center of our operations. Our production is based on utilizing the waste of pine tree needles to create our products in their multitude. We worked on establishing a production cycle where we keep product value circulating as long as possible through reuse, repair, remanufacturing or repurposing. Given that we have established this holistic approach internally and achieved a zero waste production cycle, we are prioritizing working with partners (startups and grassroot organizations) that share the same approach and operate via localized circuits of production, exchange and consumption yielding not only basic needs provisioning but also local economic development based on sustainable production and consumption.

02.13.01 My project contributes to the Climate action goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification

Our fire starters are produced from the waste of pine tree needles, which are shedded in abundance in all of the pine tree forests. These pine tree needles are highly flammable due to the naturally produced substance of resin which caused a loss of 500 Kilometers of pine tree forests last summer in Maloulaa Tabarka. Based on the detection of this characteristic, we created our fire starters and our fuel pellets. Through this process, we transform risk into opportunity, by utilizing this hazardous substance that causes wildfires all over the pine forests in Tunisia. Our ultimate goal is to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity of the local communities in pine forest locations in order to mitigate the consequences of the natural catastrophe of the wildfires.

02.14.01 My project contributes to the Life below water goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification

02.15.01 My project contributes to the Life on land goal

6

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification

Our enterprise promotes sustainable production and consumption patterns that are sensitive to the local environmental conditions such as the rising tempretures which directly affect the spread of wildfires, by utilizing the waste of pine trees. This can help conserve terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity. We also aim to collaborate with the local communities in Zaghouan primarily to promote biodiversity by conserving and restoring natural ecosystems within the city. More specifically restoring the areas that were affected by the forest fires. Our whole organization is built on the principle of reducing the environmental footprint of production and distribution, thereby minimizing land degradation and biodiversity loss.

02.16.01 My project contributes to the Peace justice and strong institutions goal

2

02.16.02 Peace justice and strong institutions - Justification

02.17.01 My project contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification

05.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

6

05.02 The product/service we envision creating represents an entirely new type of product/service.

4

05.03 The product/service we envision creating could be described as a new technology.

5

05.04 The product/service we envision creating is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.05 The product/service we envision creating could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

6

05.06 The product/service we envision creating responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.07 The product/service we envision creating is a new version of an old product/service.

4

05.08 Justification

Even though the fire starters market is established in our country and in foreign markets, our fire starters/fuel pellets are innovative on multiple aspects and levels. First and foremost they present a responsible production formula since it is the result of recycling pine needles, which directly targets the problems associated with their flammable nature to reduce the risk of forest fires. Targeting not only the responsible consumption aspect, our product ensures the principle of zero waste in consumption; with a burning capacity of 15 minutes, our product can be lit up for 5 minutes for a meal, then turned off, allowing the remaining 10 minutes to be used to prepare other meals. Added to that our raw materials are 100% organic, totally excluding the use of any chemical substances. Last but not least our products have a high resistance to humidity and the ability to ignite even when wet.

05.09 Who are your main potential competitors and what makes you stand out from them?

Currently on the Tunisian market, our only competitor is Magma, which only offers chemical firelighters. However, their product has drawbacks such as a bad smell when burning and a limited burning time of just 4 minutes, requiring up to four pieces to light a barbecue. Although Magma has a competitive advantage in terms of price, this is offset by the mediocre quality of their product. Our real competition is on the international market, where we come across several brands and product ranges meeting the same needs as we have identified. We have chosen to analyze specifically the Cheminett brand, which offers 100% natural, but not organic, firelighters and fuel pellets. Our competitive advantage lies in the speed of ignition, burning time and hydrophobic quality of our product compared with Cheminett. Our most formidable competitor is Ko-Feu, which offers a similar burning time to ours but without the organic and hydrophobic characteristics of our product.

10.06 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

NA