illustration: d.o.b foundation

The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid

Eradicating poverty through profit! A new managerial challenge for the world's wealthiest companies.

"If we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognizing them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up."

C.K. Prahalad, author of the book "The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profit", begins his book with this simple yet revolutionary proposition.

The bottom of the (economic) pyramid (BOP) consists of four billion people living on less than $ 2,- a day. However this enormous low income market provides multinationals with a whole new world of opportunities to make a profit.

Until recently most multinationals have focused on the top part of the pyramid. Consumers earning more than $ 20,000 a year. This market is becoming oversaturated and Prahalad is pushing eyes towards a new paradigm.

Prahalad presents his perspective to contributing to the alleviation of poverty as a co-creation of economic development and social transformation. Private enterprise, development agenices, BOP consumers, BOP entrepreneurs, civil society organizations and the local government will all have to work together to achieve this.

Doing business in this market will require radical innovations in technology and business models. By selling to the poor and helping them improve their lives by producing and distributing products and services. The private sector can now contribute to lifting people out of poverty in a culturally sensitive, environmentally sustainable and economically profitable way.