Recalibrating Capitalism to Fast-Track #worldneeds
Giving hasn’t been reinvented since its start. With social and environmental issues (World-Needs) changing at snail pace, and the internet reducing global divide, it’s time to reinvent giving to fast track a better world for more people. Innovation is about mass adoption usually through cost reduction. So how about we reduce the cost of sacrifice from giving money and time to giving just purchase decisions?
I’m lucky to be at the centre of two seemingly unrelated initiatives that have given me insights into how we can collect as much money as possible but most importantly use it to effectively do the most good to fast-track reducing inequality and its effects.
I have been a web developer and digital marketer for a decade and recently launched a human managed Digital Marketing as a Service platform targeting SMEs in developed markets who want to reduce digital marketing costs. But also in 2016 I started a P2P lending initiative that has since extended over $200,000 from microlenders to SMEs who have won low-risk opportunities like contracts, LPOs etc; no interest but profit/loss sharing, no collateral but trust.
My digital marketing experience tells me that fierce competition between products & service brands is limited to satisfying only ‘Personal Needs’ of consumers, but these same consumers have secondary needs of seeing progressive change in ‘World-Needs’. Adding another metric of ‘World-Needs’ to the competition can generate the much needed resources to finance ‘World-Needs’.
My P2P lending initiative has taught me that the poorest who work as hard if not more than us, are far less productive because they CAN’T access credit — they’re high risk, and CAN’T innovate their products and services not even the most basic innovations like product bundling, marketing, etc — because they have basic education if at all. These two “CAN’TS” limit to peanuts how much wealth flows down to them from above the wealth pyramid.
As a result they live a subsistence life, most times have to choose only one or two of life’s basics but not all; food, health, education, shelter, clothing, water etc. I know women using mosquito nets provided free by The Global Fund not to protect themselves against malaria but to make passion fruit juice, mushroom growing and other small income generating activities.
A “consumer revolution” where brands compete on “World Needs” beyond “Consumer Needs” can be the ‘decentralized bank’ that generates money to offer interest free, unsecured credit and as well as product/service innovation fees. It’s 2019 not 1920, through inclusive digital transformation enhanced by ‘collaborative competition’ precipitated by millennials’ biosphere consciousness or relentless desire to improve social and environment issues, we can fast track access to credit and markets making the poorest more productive and enabling them access to more of life’s basics.
In 2017, ecommerce was responsible for around $2.3 trillion in sales and is expected to hit $4.5 trillion in 2021 (Statista). On average, millennials now make 54% of purchases online.
“67% millennials believe that working for causes is an integral part of life, and they’re drawn to big issues. Instead of making one-off donations, they’re more likely to integrate their causes into daily life by buying products that support social or environmental causes.” BCG — The Millennial Consumer — Debunking Stereotypes 2012.
When shopping for products, 50% of millennial parents say they try to buy products that support causes or charities. (Fort Mill Times)
At the base of this platform we propose a new form of legal corporate ownership transparently enforced by blockchain. 40% private and 60% for “World Needs” The 40% will ensure sustainability of the project, employing high-quality engineers, digital marketers, data scientists, accountants, operational expenses like media publicity among others to make it a global acclaim, prioritize and maximize impact on world needs.
Blockchain’s provenance and immutability can ensure transparency on how the 60% is spent, track status and progress of interventions, track traffic/conversion to websites, its consensus and finality to enforce agreed network rules.
Our vision is to build a platform to disrupt philanthropy and corporate social responsibility by decentralizing giving to the buyers improving the whole experience of giving, and accessing charity. But most importantly make this collected wealth effectively do the most good, Lift more people out of poverty, save more lives and the environment. We believe, with a Global GDP of $87.51 trillion, the only pain and suffering people should endure is one money can’t fix.
What is the world’s most valuable resource? Online Traffic.
What is the commonest human identity? Compassion.
What is the world’s biggest problem? Poverty.
How can we integrate Traffic, Compassion, & Poverty to better the world for all of us?
Experts say data is the most valuable resource but it’s online traffic. In a digital economy businesses grow by attracting more visitors to their websites than competitors. It’s why some of the richest companies Google, Facebook, etc. thrive on traffic. It’s $308 Billion industry. Because there’s tight competition for traffic, these global companies use our data to optimize their traffic sales. But what if we shifted or enhanced competition to something that doesn’t necessarily require our data but our compassion; the commonest human identity.
Something we all care about, something that saves rather than kill, something more digitally inclusive than exclusive, something that cares rather than ignores, something more productive than regressive, more distributive of global wealth than extractive, decentral than central, something with global interests not oligarchic interests, something we can call “World Needs”, i.e. social and environmental needs.
Products and services providers have already exceeded our “Personal/Customer Needs” to the extent that we don’t need another selfie app while hurricanes kill more of us due to increasing global warming, and other preventable risk factors. We can turn the turf of competition upside down so merchants care not only to our “personal needs” but also “World Needs”, which turn out to be secondary personal-needs because we all need social and environmental/climate security.
Which brings us to what is the world’s biggest problem? It’s Poverty which limits 3B people from accessing life’s basics and eventually 18 million people die because of poverty related issues annually. Poverty also indirectly affects the rich.
Scientists tell us we are on course for a chain reaction of irreversible catastrophic events if we don’t do something radical to change the course of our; well, deteriorating ship, ‘the world’ within this decade.
Yet this year another 3 billion trees will be cut because 3 Billion people can’t afford climate-smart methods for daily activities. This warms up earth further and then more hurricanes that cost life and property worth $256B in 2017, wild fires, species extinction, etc. From immigration in German, radicalization leading to terrorism in the UK, to gang violence in Australia, poverty affects not only the poor but the rich as well.
World Bank says to stem poverty micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which employ 4 in 5 need to access ethical credit and markets to grow to employ more people and pay better salaries. It’s 2019 not 1920, through inclusive digital transformation enhanced by ‘collaborative competition’ precipitated by millennials’ desire to improve social and environment issues or biosphere consciousness we can fast track these two.
Globally there is a $2.5 trillion SME credit gap which is worsened by predatory credit institutions charging over-the-roof interest rates that keep small businesses and employees in a never ending loop of poverty.
This is through platform that showcases short stories of the poorest hustling to survive, their work challenges, household aspirations and budget what they require to target the digital customer.
Originally published at https://medium.com on August 3, 2019.
