“A profit-seeking business which

provides products and services which

improve lives of low income people.”

What is Impact Business?

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Did you know?

The global distribution of income

‘Few people with

huge income’

...or middle class

Some people with

‘good’ income

Huge amount of

people with low

income

generation

Traditional Business

Most companies

provide products

and service to the

people in the top

layers

Over to you:

Think of some

examples of brands

and products – who

are their customers?

What is Base of the Pyramid?

Four billion people in the

world are part of the “Base

of the Pyramid” and live on

less than 4 USD per day. (*)

Over to you:

Why do few businesses

focus on these 4 billion

people as their

customers?

(*) There are different ways of measuring the BoP, read more at for example

http://web.mit.edu/idi/idi/n4b_executive_summary_graphics.pdf

An Impact Business

focusses on providing

basic needs to the BOP

Huge business potential to

provide

o Education

o Healthcare

o Housing and Infrastructure

o Energy and other

technologies

o Financial Services

An Impact Business is accessible

How do reach your

customer?

o Distribution Model

o Language

o Customer

understanding of the

product

Is the product

affordable to the Base

of the Pyramid?

An Impact Business is

permanent and self-sustainable

o Do you

generate

revenue in

the same way

as you create

impact?

o What is your

competitive

advantage?

An Impact Business is scalable

o It addresses a need experienced by a

significant number of people

o Potential to

expand to

new

markets

and attract

further

investment

Impact Business is different from Social organizations that generate income – when the income

generation is not inherently linked to the way the organization

creates impact, but is rather a financial mechanism for enabling the

social programs.

Inclusive business – when underprivileged people are included in

the production chain, but the final product/service does not in

itself serve low income populations (for example, fair trade

organizations whose goods are sold to customer at the top of the

economical pyramid).

Green business – when organizations have an environmental, but

not a clear social impact.

Traditional companies targeting the base of pyramid – when

traditional companies offer reduced pricing or easier payment

conditions to low income people, but do not make any other

changes to their business model to facilitate the customer’s

improved quality of life.