Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 5, 2016

A major challenge for international development efforts is determining which financial tools provide durable buffers against such setbacks. While meeting this challenge is a clear priority for policy makers and donors, it is also a major profit opportunity for commercial players who can solve market failures and create real value.

Microfinance 10

Microfinance Insurance Banking Bottom-up 10

Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Career paths are not one-size-fits-all, yet in emerging markets, it's often assumed that microfinance — the use of small loans to foster self-reliant small businesses in a community setting — is the only path for women seeking economic opportunity. Microfinance was one issue that we considered.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Flextime Globalization Telecommunications 8

Harvard Business Review

SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

We serve two markets that are very different but united by the common need for reliable, safe access to energy: outdoor recreationalists and low-income households in emerging markets. We found an ideal storefront near a busy market in central Bhubaneswar. Experiment #5: Microfinance Institutions.

Marketing 8

Marketing Microfinance Retail Development 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 13, 2012

cents for a sachet that could purify 10 liters, Pur achieved penetration rates of 5% to 10% in its test markets — strong by almost any yardstick — but in 2005 the company gave up on Pur as a business, because the numbers simply hadn't worked. The microfinance industry is a rare D and E success story.

Microfinance 14

Microfinance Prahalad Bottom-up Banking 14

Harvard Business Review

MAY 18, 2016

Army staffers now develop individual strategies to overcome these barriers, connecting families to community services to achieve self-sufficiency. In 2013, Habitat used its frontline calculations to create a new strategic plan aimed at materially affecting the housing deficit through a combination of advocacy and market development.

Microfinance 9

Microfinance Strategic Planning Finance Globalization 9

Harvard Business Review

APRIL 4, 2012

The White House has called this gap between the demand and supply of finance for small and medium enterprises a "market failure.[and] For me, it has been a problem of finance until LEDFC," he says, referring to the Liberian Enterprise Development Finance Corporation that offers Liberian-owned firms desperately needed small business loans.

Entrepreneur 14

Entrepreneur Globalization Microfinance Finance 14

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

Six years ago, David and Donna Allman approached Opportunity with an idea that fell outside our traditional microfinance model: to build a Community Economic Development (CED) program in Nicaragua. We know that microfinance alone will not break the poverty cycle.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Rogers Tourism Engineering 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 11, 2013

It is unthinkable, for instance, to imagine a social entrepreneur treating research on the health effects of tobacco use the way the tobacco industry, market analysts, and investors did in the 1960s and '70s. But only to assure themselves that someone will pay enough to make the development of the solution worthwhile.

Entrepreneur 9

Entrepreneur Microfinance Supply Chain Prahalad 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 24, 2012

Take, for example, the issue of economic development. A hybrid approach is exemplified by startup Frogtek, which develops software for local shopkeepers in emerging markets to more efficiently track their inventory, leading to better purchasing decisions and greater profits.

Entrepreneur 15

Entrepreneur Microfinance Market Segmentation Incubator 15

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 22, 2015

” Microfinance and other market-based interventions don’t generally reach them. Discussion abounds in the development sector today about the best ways to empower the poor. At BRAC , where I work, we call this subset the “ultra-poor.” If we’re to end poverty, we can’t ignore them.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance BHAG NGO Participative 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

NAF has also established a Research and Development Center in Chennai housing a comprehensive soil testing laboratory, food safety and standards laboratory and a plant tissue culture lab to provide agriculture support services. Over 1,900 beneficiaries have established micro-enterprises for which microfinance has been facilitated.

Innovation 9

Innovation Microfinance Parcell Technology 9

Harvard Business Review

MAY 2, 2014

And Bill Gates announced he was shifting his priorities from software development to social impact by moving full time to his foundation. That year, two global headlines raised the profile of social enterprise: Mohammed Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace prize. In the broader U.S. Lead collaborations, not just organizations.

Entrepreneur 12

Entrepreneur Microfinance NGO Mission Statement 12

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 4, 2013

It seems to signal that an enterprise's theory of how to effect change resonates with a lot of people and that the organization is developing a "voice" for effectively communicating its ideas to customers — a crucial success factor. A larger Facebook network suggests that a social-venture idea has legs.

Entrepreneur 8

Entrepreneur Microfinance Media Follow-up 8

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 21, 2013

Many in the nonprofit world call this technical assistance or training, while for-profit entrepreneurs might see it as business development, partnerships or even affiliate marketing. Successful examples of this approach are still rare; most people point to microfinance. I'm not sure either frame is right.

Venture Capitalist 9

Venture Capitalist Mentor Microfinance NGO 9

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2017

Or there’s Nairobi’s SuzieBeauty, which develops cosmetics catering to African tastes at quality matching Western levels. Firms are realizing what microfinance has known for a while: Local self-policing groups, or village headmen who police honor codes, can hedge cash flows in far-flung places.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Hotels Entrepreneur Incubator 8

Harvard Business Review

OCTOBER 13, 2011

Bank marketing materials focus on the dreams, anxieties and goals of consumers. Yet unlike in finance, where distributing risk across institutions is the goal, in drug development the focus is on isolating risk. Risk management processes don't — but they should.

Banking 11

Banking Pharmaceuticals Microfinance Risk Management 11

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 17, 2014

An estimated 250 funds are actively raising capital in a market that the Global Impact Investing Network estimates at $25 billion. Under the broad umbrella of impact investments lie myriad sectors, asset types, and investment products, most of which still need to be developed and understood. sanitation, housing, mobile banking).

Development 8

Development Microfinance Biotechnology Exit Strategy 8

Harvard Business Review

JUNE 20, 2012

However, as I discussed in my last post , the model has a fatal flaw: It inevitably requires an impractical penetration rate of the target market — often 30% or more of all consumers in an area. Any business that starts off needing a 30% or higher penetration rate is built on a shaky foundation.

Bottom-up 10

Bottom-up Microfinance Price Banking 10

Harvard Business Review

JANUARY 28, 2016

According to the Global Impact Investing Network, the market for impact capital, currently sized at $60 billion, could grow over the next decade to $2 trillion, or 1% of global invested assets. Investors might have a geographic focus: they may care more about developed or developing economies, or a particular country or community.

Class 8

Class Microfinance Supply Chain Education 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 2, 2011

Opportunities and markets are global. Entrepreneurs don't need to help America beat China or Brazil in addressing the needs of customers and markets. Do we really want to beat India at developing clean tech, cheap medical devices, and affordable housing? This is not a contradiction. How about if, as nations, we win together?

Venture Capitalist 15

Venture Capitalist Entrepreneur Microfinance Finance 15

CO2

JUNE 4, 2012

Over time, she learns that “solutions to poverty must be driven by discipline, accountability, and market strength, not easy sentimentality.” My solution was to found a microfinance organization that puts women in a position to create their own destinies and achieve their full potential. I too am learning this lesson. May 2012. ###.

Microfinance 121

Microfinance Travel Open-book Education 121

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 18, 2013

And we are often happy to review these start-up plans — which include the typical elements such as a product description, competitive analysis, estimate of market size, and projected financials. The kids develop discipline and focus, but also practical, marketable skills. Marquis found a way to do this. Importance.

Entrepreneur 10

Entrepreneur Planning Taylorism Taylor 10