Money to start your business--without banks or saving  By Philip
Brewer on 27 June 2008 (Updated 26 April 2010) 21 comments
Photo: Philip Brewer  Suppose you and your friends all want to
start small businesses.  You've all got money coming in, you're
all in a position to save up some capital, but it would take you
a year to all save up enough--and you'd rather not wait. 
There's a solution to this problem that's so obvious its been
reinvented all over the world.  In Mexico it's called a tanda or
a cundina.  In Korea it's a kye.  In China it's a hui.  In West
Africa it's a susu.  Here's an example of how one works
(although the details endlessly variable):  A dozen friends
arrange to meet every month for a year.  At every meeting, each
one contributes $500.  The pool of capital ($6000) goes to one
member, who now has enough money to start his or her business. 
The process is repeated each month for a year, until each person
has gotten the money.  The person who gets the money is usually
chosen at random from a