How Misinformed Ideas About Profit Are Holding Back The World’s Poor

Friday, May 10, 2013

I run a for-profit business that delivers products and services to customers earning less than $6 a day in West Africa. When I tell people this, I frequently encounter disbelief or concern. The three most common responses I hear are:

Surely you can’t make money working with people who are so poor?

Don’t you feel like you are taking advantage of these people by making money from them?

Wouldn’t charity do a better job of meeting their needs?

While these questions are well-intentioned, I initially found them upsetting because they go far beyond a healthy skepticism about my business model. They made me doubt whether I should be working with poor consumers at all.

Source: Fast CoExist (link opens in a new window)