Lessons from the BoP 6: sophisticated cash flow management

Do telecenters in Sri Lanka make money? Yes. They report an average monthly income of Rs. 22,119. (=USD 201) This is associated with a relatively large standard deviation of Rs. 21,714 (= USD 197) indicating a variation within a wide range. This means a large number of telecenters are running at a loss.

This snippet from LirneAsia's post on the economic health of telecenters meant for the BoP simply shows that the target audience's variability of cash flow influences the earnings of their market. This is a key characteristic of the informal economies in which the BoP tend  to operate. Addressing this challenge will be crucial.