Escaping The Survival Trap At The Bottom Of The Pyramid

This Element is an excerpt from Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity in BoP Markets: Strategies for Business and Economic Transformation (9780137079261) by Eric Kacou. Available in print and digital formats. Why the world’s poorest stay so poor: understanding the real root cause to create solutions that really work. Finding ways to solve poverty while tapping into economic opportunity at the “Bottom of the Pyramid” requires that we discover why poverty persists. Getting to the root cause requires we look at the problem from the perspective of typical individuals in “Bottom of the Pyramid” markets. Let’s consider them.

3 extraordinary books show how to build “bottom of the pyramid” businesses that are sustainable, scalable, and profitable! Three remarkable books help you overcome the pitfalls of “bottom of the pyramid” business, learn from the pioneers’ successes and failures, and build “BoP” businesses that are sustainable, scalable, and consistently profitable! In Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity in BoP Markets: Strategies for Business and Economic Transformation, Eric Kacou shows how to escape the “survival trap” that keeps many BoP businesses small, inefficient, and unprofitable. Drawing on his unique on-the-ground experience in Africa’s most challenging business environments, Kacou identifies new business models, operational techniques, and leadership approaches that can help BoP businesses grow rapidly and successfully. In Next Generation Business Strategies for the Base of the Pyramid: New Approaches for Building Mutual Value, Ted London and Stuart L. Hart share proven, “on-the-ground” insights for building “Base of the Pyramid” businesses that really are sustainable and green, really will help alleviate social ills, and really can scale. Finally, in Capitalism at the Crossroads: Next Generation Business Strategies for a Post-Crisis World, Third Edition, Hart offers an up-to-the-minute primer on sustainable business for today’s executives, practical insights into what’s working and what isn’t, and expert insights for crafting and executing your company’s optimal sustainability strategy. From world-renowned leaders in successful bottom-of-the-pyramid business innovation, including Ted London, Stuart L. Hart, and Eric Kacou.

There has been immense worldwide excitement about the potential of Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) businesses to help impoverished societies escape poverty. Unfortunately, many BoP firms are locked in a "survival trap" that keeps them small, inefficient, and unprofitable. Now, Eric Kacou identifies breakthrough business models, operational techniques, and leadership approaches that can help BoP businesses grow rapidly, successfully, and profitably. Drawing from his immense on-the-ground experience in Africa’s most challenging business environments, Kacou shows how companies can overcome the Survival Trap mindset that breeds dependence, mistrust, and failure. Next, he takes readers inside the Rwandan metamorphosis: the economic miracle that CNN’s Fareed Zakaria calls Africa’s biggest success story. Kacou shows how to address the needs of all core stakeholders. He concludes with integrated recommendations for local entrepreneurs, global businesses, governments, and international organizations: guidance that can truly launch a "virtuous cycle" of prosperity creation. For all entrepreneurs, policymakers, NGO professionals, and leaders who want to make BoP businesses work.

This ground-breaking book shows how innovative microfinance solutions can help billions to avoid ‚poverty traps‘ and escape atavistic misery. While the success of microfinance has globally exceeded even the wildest expectations, there are still many obstacles – above all the lack of proper business planning on the side of the borrowers. Here Moro Visconti‘s important book comes to aid, offering bottom-up development strategies for micro-credit-driven startups and beyond. His forceful analysis of poverty traps and the practical guidelines given (including business plan templates as Excel sheets) are designed to help practitioners and analysts alike in understanding and reaching the true potential of microfinance.

Always be prepared: essential tips and tricks for keeping safe in the outdoors with Survive. Whether you’re going for a leisurely hike or setting off into the wilderness, there is nothing more important than being properly prepared. Being knowledgeable about survival techniques can be the difference between having fun outside and an emergency rescue. Survive provides essential tips and tricks for anyone who spends time outdoors so that they will know how to recognize potential emergencies, apply basic first aid, build fires and shelter, identify poisonous plants, and more—all in the name of being able to survive in any conditions should an emergency arrive. From fishers and hunters to hikers and cyclists, this guide is perfect for anyone in your life who enjoys the great outdoors so they can keep the time they spend in nature fun by staying safe!

“No fan of Indiana Jones, Matthew Reilly or action in general will be able to put it down.”—Northern Territory News A BURIED EGYPTIAN TEMPLE. A SECRET KEPT FOR 6,000 YEARS. A RACE FOR LIFE WORTH KILLING FOR. An international TV audience waits breathlessly as archaeologists prepare to break into a long-hidden vault beneath the Great Sphinx. But student Macy Sharif has already made her own shocking discovery: a religious cult raiding the site. Their prize? A map that will lead to something far more astounding: the lost pyramid of Osiris. Framed by corrupt officials, Macy goes on the run, trying to reach the only people who can save her before she is silenced—permanently. American archaeologist Nina Wilde, once a renowned scientific explorer, now all but blacklisted by her colleagues, is trying to rebuild her reputation. But Macy’s plea for help will send Nina and ex-SAS bodyguard Eddie Chase on the ultimate treasure hunt. From the streets of Manhattan to a yacht off Monaco to a buried desert site, they’ll follow an elusive trail stalked by a killer determined to uncover a six-thousand-year-old secret. And beneath the forbidding desert, they’ll enter a forgotten world both wondrous and horrifying, where the ancient God of Death has kept his secrets—until now. “Adventure stories don’t get much more epic than this.”—Daily Mirror (U.K.)

Considers the four billion low-income consumers which constitute the majority of the world's population, and how to better meet their needs, increase their productivity and empower their entry into the formal economy.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Trapped in the Mexican jungle, a group of friends stumble upon a creeping horror unlike anything they could ever imagine in "the best horror novel of the new century" (Stephen King). Also a major motion picture! Two young couples are on a lazy Mexican vacation—sun-drenched days, drunken nights, making friends with fellow tourists. When the brother of one of those friends disappears, they decide to venture into the jungle to look for him. What started out as a fun day-trip slowly spirals into a nightmare when they find an ancient ruins site ... and the terrifying presence that lurks there. "The Ruins does for Mexican vacations what Jaws did for New England beaches.” —Entertainment Weekly “Smith’s nail-biting tension is a pleasure all its own.... This stuff isn’t for the faint of heart.” —New York Post “A story so scary you may never want to go on vacation, or dig around in your garden, again.” —USA Today