"Have I been a good steward of my resources and talents? Have I made a difference in other people's lives? - these are the questions I want to be able to answer positively." - how a self-made millionaire has more to give than his money and why he believes in the power of potential.

David Bussau, Founder, Maranatha Trust & Opportunity International, Sydney, Australia

“At 16 I started with a hotdog stand in a football stadium and 15 businesses later was quite wealthy in the construction industry.” – That was David Bussau’s story before, at the age of 35, he started engaging in solving the issue of poverty around the world. Over a period of five years he sold his businesses, placed his money in a family foundation (Maranatha Trust) and today invests a part of it in the support of social entrepreneurs and organisations. One of the first initiatives that David founded and invested in is the Opportunity International Network, an organisation providing micro-financing to mainly Asian small businesses that generate income for the world’s poorest through a market-based approach. David is convinced: “It won't be long before the United Nations will declare that access to credit is a basic human right.”
David believes that his entrepreneurial and money-making gifts – and their fruits – don’t really belong to him. He is just their custodian and responsible for making the best use out of them.
It was an inspirational pleasure to listen to David, to feel the confidence and peace in the voice of a man who figured life out for himself, who found out what he is here for, what his role is and what is important to him.

Enjoy reading in the selected quotations below how David uses his talents and you may be able to read more about his initiatives and beliefs in our book “MyImpact”.

David Bussau’s selected quotations:
"At the age of 35 I reached the economics of enough. The money I have made did not belong to me and I was thinking of ways how to convert this economic success into significance."

"My motivation comes from the relationship with the creator. He invested a lot in me and gave me a lot of skills. It may sound funny but he does expect a return on his investment."

"I guess one of the major turning points was a very wealthy customer who called me in the evening, just when I was bathing my kids. He insisted that I, as CEO, immediately take care of an issue with his house renovation that my company was doing. I got mad that this person could dictate my life and shape my values. I started reflecting whether I really needed to be wealthier that badly that I had to put up with all this."

"I'm trying to be significant not successful. Being successful in business comes easy to me."

"If you are poor, you don't have choices. You are economically disempowered. I want to help people to be able to make choices, this is critical to a person's development."

"Each of us has the capacity to be incredibly productive and those who realise this, are the ones who make the difference in the world. For me the challenge is to find ways to release that incredible potential in human beings, to enable that creative force and drive to be expressed."

"I came to this world with nothing and will exit this world with nothing. I have been given the gift of entrepreneurship; I know how to make money. I did not deserve or earn this gift, I was given it. Therefore, it does not belong to me and so its fruits do not belong to me, either."

"Wealth is not designed for me to have it. I don't believe that I own anything."

"What I found is that the more you let things go, the more fulfilment and liberation you get. The more I release the more impact I have."

"Much in this world is about human doings instead of human beings."

"Although it was my dream to play professional soccer, this is not was I am meant for."

"I wanted to figure out how to put more back into society. I spent 5 years helping in an Indonesian catastrophe area. This gave me time to think about who I am, who I want to be, what I want to impact."

"Because I did not have parents, I had do decide for myself who I was. I did not have their influence, dreams or expectations."

"Money itself does not have any character; it is more about the owner, his values, what he stands for."

"What gives me most satisfaction are the relationships that I have with the people I now work with. Business relationships, on the other side, are always based on exploiting another person. I don't think that other relationships are possible in business. It's just about financial transactions, not about long-term relationships."

"Entrepreneurs are very important; 90% of people just want a pay check, only 10% want to provide these jobs."

"What I do today is to create entities, endow them and let them take off."

"I'm growing fruit on other people's trees."

"I think that I’m a social entrepreneur. The definition of social enterprise is a market place solution for a social problem. I don't do any charity."

"I do not need to leave any legacy or heritage. That's part of my liberation."

"What gives me satisfaction is investing in a person, enabling them to be the unique person God created them to be and equip them to multiply themselves for the benefit of the wider community."

“We should not treat others according to their position, what they are achieving, or to their wealth status but rather their being. We should ask whether they are contented and satisfied with the way they live each day.”

Some background on David Bussau:
Starting from humble beginnings and growing up in an Anglican boys' home, David Bussau became an entrepreneur operating a number of very successful construction businesses.
Following Cyclone Tracey in 1974, he took a construction team to Darwin as volunteers to help rebuild the city and has also led a trip to Indonesia to build community infrastructure. In 1979 he sold his businesses and poured his money into a family foundation, the Maranatha Trust.
Realising the power of offering enterprise loans to the poor, David founded Opportunity International Australia and has been instrumental in formulating the methodology of Micro-Enterprise Development internationally. He is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty instead of merely treating its symptoms and has received a number of awards recognising his engagement and effectiveness. With his family trust David supports a number of other organisations focusing on poverty alleviation.

Some background on the Maranatha Trust and Opportunity International:
The Maranatha Trust, a family trust managed by David and his wife, is committed to responsible wealth creation and entrepreneurship in the belief that this is the best way to alleviate global poverty.

Opportunity International was founded in 1979 and it provides entrepreneurs with access to capital and business training to start and expand small businesses. It enables people to care for their families and gain the dignity that comes from being self-supporting. Communities are strengthened as local economies improve and entrepreneurs join forces to solve societal problems. This process is called Micro-Enterprise Development. The movement was founded by David Bussau and Al Whittaker, former President of Bristol-Myers International Corporation, entrepreneurs and businesspeople who wished to provide lasting solutions to poverty. Opportunity International is credited with revolutionising overseas aid through the principles of 'Micro-Enterprise Development' (MED) - offering small repayable loans to the poor so they can start and grow their own small businesses. In 2005, the organisation distributed over $250 million in loans creating or sustaining over a million jobs in 27 countries with a repayment rate of 97%. Women account for 87% of loan clients. Since 2000, Opportunity International has created over 2.5 million jobs impacting the lives of more than 20 million men, women and children in the developing world.

If you would like to engage with the work of David Bussau or get to know more about Opportunity International please visit www.opportunity.org.au,
or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly.