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A recent graduate with an overdrawn checking account, Kreece Fuchs was looking for ways to make money. A stack of text books piled in his college apartment he had planned to turn into pocket money instead became the inspiration for a business.
That ‘aha moment’ became Better World Books , which Fuchs describes as a "global bookstore that harnesses the power of capitalism to bring literacy and opportunity to people around the world." The company solicits books through a network of more than 2,300 college campuses and partnerships with over 3,000 libraries nationwide, and sells the books online, with a portion of the profits donated to literacy programs. Since starting the venture in 2001, Better World Books has donated more than 5 million books to partner programs .
We spoke with 32-year-old Fuchs, one of the two co-founders of Better World Books, on how he and partner Xavier Helgesen started a profitable business by doing good.
Where did the idea come from?
The campus bookstore never paid much for used books, and I thought I could sell them on the Internet and get more money. This was before buying and selling stuff on the Internet was mainstream. We had a plan to collect all the unwanted books at Notre Dame and see how many books we could collect. When did you know the company would be a success?
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