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Today is Blog Action Day and this year’s topic is “Poverty”. Last year during Blog Action Day I covered What If The Water Runs Out?, a decidedly dire possibility, which thankfully improved a little in my hometown since I wrote that article (although the problem is far from gone).

This year I want to focus on something positive we can all do as entrepreneurs - we can give something back - in this case, to help people help themselves rise above the poverty line.

I remember clearly the first time I did exactly this, although to be honest I wasn’t doing it because my business was succeeding, I did it because I had just closed a business that failed because I made a mistake.

Very long time readers of this blog will know one of my very first forays into online business was a community website focused on the Magic: The Gathering card game. On my Magic website I opened up a small e-commerce extension, where I sold the cards individually and in sealed cases.

After enjoying moderate success with my online store I made a tragic mistake. I received an order from someone in Thailand for a full case of cards, with a value of about $600. I took the order through an offline credit card processor (called a “click-clack”), but before I did this I phoned the card fraud hotline to make sure the card wasn’t reported as stolen, as per the standard procedures provided by the bank.

The card checked out fine, I charged it for the case and shipped off the product.

Fast forward a few months and I had sent off over $15,000 worth of product to Thailand, when I received a letter in the mail, telling me the very first order had received a charge back request. Basically, the owner of the card had said they had not made the purchase and wanted their money back.

Over the course of the next few weeks over $12,000 was charged back. It was clear my Thai customers were fraudsters, using a stolen credit card, and I had lost a ton of money.

I recovered from that instance after putting in ALL my savings and some money from my father to cover the dept. I was so heartbroken about the situation that I closed the online store shortly after and went into a depression that took several weeks to recover from.

A Bad Situation Inspires A Positive Action

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You may recall a few months back I did a server move of my blogs and websites. Most of them went to my now favorite hosting company - Dreamhost.com (aff).

I just received the latest Dreamhost newsletter where I read they now offer 100% completely free website hosting for not for profit organizations in the USA.

If you are a registered USA non-profit check out the Dreamhost wiki entry for details on claiming free website hosting.

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I’m reading more and more about the not-for-profit business sector lately and I suspect at some point down the track that may be where I put the greater part of my business energy towards.

Jon from Art of Money posted a great write up about Micro Lending and the Decline of Poverty in Bangladesh after watching an interview with upcoming nobel peace prize recipient, Muhammad Yunus.

Mr Yunus set-up a bank called Grameen which gives out micro loans to the poor. His bank enjoys a 98% repayment rate and distributes most of the loans to women since women have proven to be much more reliable and responsible users of the funds.

Go and read Jon’s write up and I think you will be impressed by this story of one man’s ingenuity to help the world’s poor.

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