By Greg Da Re Access to financing has been and continues to be the main obstacle facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). According to a recent survey, 90% of all banks surveyed in Latin America and the Caribbean consider SMEs strategically important for their business, yet 44% acknowledge that their portfolio lacks suitable financial products for such enterprises. … [Read more...] about Five reasons FinTech companies are an opportunity for financial institutions and SMEs
innovation
Don’t let base of the pyramid millennials catch your company off guard
Hardly a day passes without a new article on how businesses are analyzing the needs, wants and spending trends of millennials. In the US alone, millennials (or Generation Y), those born between 1980 and 2000, represent 30 percent of the population. By 2025 they will be 75 percent of the workforce of this country. The impact that millennials are starting to have on the global … [Read more...] about Don’t let base of the pyramid millennials catch your company off guard
10 things a company needs to know about the market at the base of the pyramid
Seventy percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean – more than 400 million people – live on less than $10 a day. Even though their income is low, this segment of the population still demands goods and services, and represents a market of $760 billion per year. Hundreds of pioneering companies see opportunities in this market to do profitable business while … [Read more...] about 10 things a company needs to know about the market at the base of the pyramid
WANTED: Innovative companies for a $760 billion market
It has been more than ten years since we first read about the base of the pyramid (BOP) and the large and virtually untapped market represented by this socio-economic segment. People at the BOP in Latin America and the Caribbean live on less than $10 a day, but they have benefited from the region’s economic growth between 2000 and 2010 and their incomes have been growing ever … [Read more...] about WANTED: Innovative companies for a $760 billion market
Counterintuitive ideas are the right answer for sustainable enterprises
Most business models are formulated by the top of the pyramid. Many business leaders and academics write on the must haves of a successful base of the pyramid (BOP) business model. Still quite a few of those business endeavors fail. While reasons for failure vary, experience shows that the ability to observe, listen and understand the BOP’s social codes and priorities is key … [Read more...] about Counterintuitive ideas are the right answer for sustainable enterprises