The Monitor Group, a consulting firm, has just issued a very interesting report entitled “Emerging Markets, Emerging Models: Market-Based Solutions to the Challenges of Global Poverty.” As they point out in the Exec Summary, ”market-based solutions have recently attracted strong interest in the campaign against global poverty, in part due to the remarkable success of microfinance. They are relatively new, with an uneven performance record, and there is much yet to learn about what causes them to succeed or fail. The most successful pass two tests: they are self-funding, and they operate at sufficient scale to make a difference to masses of poor people. They also have one salient feature in common: a business model tailored to the special circumstances of markets at the base of the income pyramid.”
The report looks at data from a number of sources and field studies, with a particular focus on India, and comes up with lessons learned as well as 7 business models, tailored to the circumstances of low-income groups, that they believe have the best chance of success. Definitely required reading for those of us interested in market-based solutions for the bottom of the pyramid.