1. “A profit-seeking business which
provides products and services which
improve lives of low income people.”
What is Impact Business?
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2. 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

3. 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?

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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?

7. 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?

8. 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

9. 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.