During his travels in Africa exploring the impact of micro-lending on business start-ups, Jason Fairbourne noticed something strange.
When an entrepreneur became successful selling a particular product, say tomatoes, many others would mimic that person’s business. Soon the local market was flooded with tomatoes and failed tomato vendors.
“I would go village to village where everyone is selling the same product,†said Fairbourne, a Springville-based consultant. “They are doing a business out of necessity, in order to feed their family, not because they are entrepreneurial and have the next big idea. It’s a bit presumptuous to give someone financing and assume they will be successful.â€
A part-time Brigham Young University faculty member, Fairbourne hatched his concept of “micro-franchising†to address pitfalls associated with the micro-lending movement. His idea was to put ready-made businesses in the hands of people with no entrepreneurial skills in impoverished communities that lack business-support infrastructure. More.