VisionSpring reaches its potential market of over 400 million customers through three channels:

• Direct Sales Channel in which we train and support our own network of entrepreneurs;
• Franchise Partner Channel in which we partner with local organizations to bring our Vision Entrepreneur model to new locations;
• Wholesale channel in which we partner with retail organizations to distribute low-cost glasses to poor communities.

Direct Sales Channel

In India and El Salvador, VisionSpring supports its own network of Vision Entrepreneurs, providing them with Business in a Bag kits, eye care and business trainings, and ongoing sales and marketing support. Supported by dedicated local staff, Vision Entrepreneurs are equipped with proven sales techniques, high-quality, affordable products, and a microfranchise that allows them to run profitable businesses from day one.

To learn more about the Direct Sales Channel business model, please click here.

Franchise Partner Channel

To reach the hundreds of millions in need of eyeglasses worldwide, VisionSpring licenses its Business in a Bag model to organizations with deep local roots, established networks, solid reputations, and strong infrastructures to reach the rural poor. VisionSpring forges partnerships with a wide variety of organizations, from microfinance institutions with large networks of borrowers to multinational corporations working in some of the poorest regions of the world to local NGOs providing vital health and economic services in communities.

Franchise Partners allow VisionSpring to reach people in need of eyeglasses in the world's poorest, hardest-to-reach communities. In return, Franchise Partners receive a product with social and economic benefit to their constituents, an additional revenue stream for entrepreneurs and the organization itself, and the transfer of VisionSpring's extensive knowledge, skills, and experience in Base of the Pyramid sales and marketing.

Based on its own proven best practices, VisionSpring provides qualified Franchise Partner organizations with a full VisionSpring franchise, including:

• Business in a Bag kits
• Inventory of Eyeglasses
• Training and Technical Assistance
• Management Systems
• Support to implement an ongoing, successful eyeglasses sales program

Wholesale Channel

VisionSpring's wholesale channel allows us to reach underserved customers in urban and peri-urban areas through local retail outlets. VisionSpring's exclusive licensing agreement covering sub-Saharan Africa, launched in 2006 with Population Services International (PSI), is already reaching tens of thousands a year. Our partnership with Apollo Pharmacies, India's largest pharmacy chain, is making quality, affordable eyeglasses available for the first time in urban Indian markets. VisionSpring is committed to developing stylish, affordable eyeglasses and making them available through retail outlets serving the poor throughout the developing world.