See that little Kiva button over there in the sidebar? It’s more than just a trendy widget. In fact, if you don’t know what Kiva is, then you should check them out here.
If you want to stay here for now and go read later, it’s cool. I appreciate you not walking away while I’m talking. That’s nice. In a nutshell, Kiva is:
“…the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.”
I learned about Kiva from Naomi of IttyBiz (one of my not-so secret weapons in the war on crappy, fake marketing). I admit that I checked them out with a very skeptical eye because I’m not into giving away my money without a good reason. I don’t typically donate money to organizations because I’d rather give my time or exchange one of my services. That’s just how I think, it suits me. I don’t have anything against monetary donations themselves. Pass around the hat, it’s wonderful. 
In this case, I’m not giving away my money. I’m making a small business loan and the intention is that the loan will be repaid in a set amount of time (interest-free). Here’s what I wrote on my Kiva profile page to explain why I do this:
This is a global economy and we all have a responsibility to support each other. My business does well and I enjoy seeing other entrepreneurs become successful.
I believe strongly that as a global society we have to start seeing the bigger picture. We can’t afford to remain isolated in suburban developments and think that everything will just take care of itself, that what happens on the other side of the planet doesn’t affect us. It does. It will.
I see the people I’m loaning money to as my partners. What they are doing, even as far away as some these partners are, affects the economy where I am.
When the people of a country become successful, support themselves, and feel confident in their daily lives, governments will have no choice but to listen to and support them. When that happens, there is a lesser chance that corruption, genocide, war, and economic failure will occur in that area.
That affects the rest of the world.
We have some economic problems at the moment, but fueling up an SUV or ordering take-out are trivialities. We are so successful and have so much excess that we have no other moral option but to help develop countries that were once like ours.
Is it idealistic? Sure, maybe. I’m going to allow myself the luxury of idealism here because the alternative is to put myself in a cocoon and pretend that I’m not connected to the other 9/10 of the globe.
There’s a also a handy little lesson here for my small business. When I look at a guy like Sanjar Akhatov I think it’s amazing that in Tajikistan, where the economy is crappier than it is in the U.S., he has the cajones to support his family with his own business.
He doesn’t say, “When the economy is better I’ll think about starting my business.” He doesn’t say, “I can’t work here because the health plan isn’t as good as my last job.” He doesn’t say, “But I can’t afford my mortgage and my car payments if I don’t make at least $80,000 his year.”
Those aren’t even remote options for Sanjar to consider. Think about that.
In my small business, I am not amassing a large (or even small) fortune. I’m not raking in cash and stuffing my mattress. In fact, there are times where I wish I were making a little extra so I could pay off those credit cards and buy that new Macbook Pro a little sooner (I’m working on it).
Right now it’s enough to support my family and pay our bills on time. We have one car that’s paid for, we rent our home, and we don’t have health insurance. Our food bills are low because we’re vegetarians and we only eat out at the best places we can as a special treat.
I’m not preaching a lifestyle here. Go with Ray Kroc. Drive your Hummer. Seriously. I have enough work thinking about my own choices, so I’ll let you handle yours.
My point is that I can’t help but support this micro-lending organization because it represents small business owners who have more obstacles in front of them then anyone I know, yet somehow they manage to do their thing. They make it work. I admire them.
If it were simply charity, I wouldn’t feel the same.
Where does the money come from that I lend to these small business owners? It comes from my income. I take 2% of every sale or project total and put it aside for a micro loan. Sometimes that can be a hefty chunk of change and the benefit to me is twofold:
- It helps someone else keep their small business going; I feel good.
- It comes back so I can loan it out to again if I want.
It’s not complicated. It works for me.
Now you know what that little Kiva button over there is all about.
