#152 Planet Money: Small Business, Big Debts In Haiti

We meet Yvrose Jean Baptiste, a small-time Haitian wholesaler. Yvrose has a unique business model. She borrows money from a microcredit bank and every two weeks takes a bus to the Dominican Republic border, where she buys a bunch of produce and products to bring back to Port-au-Prince. She then lends out her goods out to various small shop owners and people who sell things on the street. She gives them two weeks to sell everything and then comes back to pick up the money.

Yrose says it's been a successful model in the past, but the earthquake has been a big hit to her business. Most of her inventory has been destroyed and now she has to scramble to pay the loan back.