Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

A few weeks ago, I attended a lecture about microfinance, and got sucker-punched. Expecting to hear a litany of pros and cons about the business, and an exploration of good and bad models, I was instead greeted with a knockout punch: Microfinance doesn't work, at least not in the way we think it does. That's nice.

Microfinance 13

Microfinance Due Diligence Cost-Benefit Analysis Industry 13

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. A chaiwala in Orissa, India, brews tea on a BioLite HomeStove.

Marketing 8

Marketing Microfinance Retail Development 8

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. By February 2016, more than three-quarters of the Central Territory Corps were trained in the new model. A critical part was adapting a proven model in a related field: microfinance.

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

At Opportunity International , where the focus is on providing loans, savings, insurance, and related training to clients in the world's poorest communities, our major donors like to see the work up close. We know that microfinance alone will not break the poverty cycle.

Microfinance 8

Microfinance Rogers Tourism Engineering 8

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

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 14

Entrepreneur Microfinance Market Segmentation Incubator 14