TEDxSaltLakeCity - Jason Fairbourne - Designing Business Models for the Poor

[DomDollx]

wow brilliant. thanks, really inspiring & an eye opener :) really really appreciate it. Peace.

[williamspencer01]

I understand that they represent different rungs on the ladder out of poverty, but I know that microfinance has the potential to reach a great number of people very fast... I also understand that microfranchising can lead to higher wages, retention, etc....but can we every expect it to have as great an effect on a macro scale?

[bastmaster5000]

@williamspencer01 Little by Little: microfranchising isn't going to push up a country's GDP, but that doesn't mean it's not productive or worthwhile. Just like adding a few thousand jobs in the U.S. doesn't mean our recession is over, but it IS a cause for celebration to those few thousand families. Economies and prosperity are built on thousands and thousands of small/medium businesses and jobs. A huge World Bank project or aid injection doesn't save a country's people from poverty.

[daclownface76]

Very cool

[nica329369]

How can regular people get involved with things like this if they aren't a big investor or business student?

[jfairbourne1]

@williamspencer01 thanks for your questions. To respond to a couple of them. We did conduct a longitudinal study that compared microfranchises with microcredit borrowers. We found the mfrs earned double their counterparts. With that said, we primarily work with microfinance institutions when rolling out microfranchises. MIcrocredit and Microfranchising work very well together. I am speaking on this subject this November at the Global Microcredit Summit in Spain.

[jfairbourne1]

Thanks everyone for the comments

[lancekara1]

I am very impressed with Jason Fairbourne and with what he is doing!!

[tkmorris13]

Who disliked this? This is a respectable industry. Good to know there are people out there wanting to make a real difference for those who need it.

[Goodideas100]

This makes good sense to me. The idea of microfranchising providing people with standardized businesses is genius. Funny how good ideas are right under our nose and make us think "why haven't we been doing this already?",

[bastmaster5000]

williamspencer01, I think comparing microcredit to microfranchising is like comparing apples and oranges. Neither is better or more effective than the other. Microcredit/finance gives the funding or the capital needed to start up a small busines venture, where microfranchising is just a ready made business plan that has been tested and proven to be successful. People in emerging economies like in developed economies benefit from lower risk of business failure by using a franchise model.

[williamspencer01]

@jfsbunch: It's new and innovative to me. How about saying something insightful about microfinance or microfranchising? I hope this commenting section will be used more to educate one another rather than to attack a single person.

[aschwinwesselius]

@jfsbunch: Why should it be new or innovative just to tell others about it on TEDx? I bet most of the people in the audience and on this YouTube channel have never thought about it. To them it's new, to them it's innovative.

If you want to sell cheap cosmetics for that woman's hands: almond oil. Works amazing on any skin and hasn't all the chemicals that the skin doesn't need anyway.

[jfsbunch]

I am sorry, but this guy irritates me. His ideas are neither new or very innovative in the "space" that he is working in... ie microcredit and micro franchising.

[avahyde]

@jfsbunch I think that although it is not a 'new' term, it is a new idea. I think it is 'new' in the sense that it is turning on the lightbulbs in our minds to think differently than what we have been- especially turning to for-profit rather than non-profit. He is stringing together a bunch of ideas that have existed, but creating something new by stringing them all together. It is worth implementing!

[nica329369]

@jfsbunch why does it have to be new or innovative to be a useful concept worth promoting? If it works and helps create livelihoods for the poor, isn't that what matters?

[williamspencer01]

I'm fairly familiar with microcredit, but have not read much about microfranchising. Are there any opinions on what is more effective? or are they more effective when used together?

[nica329369]

@williamspencer01 I think they work together. It's complementary rather than competitive.

[barrowisp]

@williamspencer01 16:57-18:09 he explains the results of their study finding that microfranchising was more effective: higher effective wages/hr, and higher retention