(FORTUNE Small Business) – For growth-minded entrepreneurs--is there another kind?--unmet needs are like manna from heaven. According to Vijay Mahajan and Kamini Banga, authors of the newly published The 86% Solution, no one has more needs than the five billion poor who live in emerging markets such as Brazil, China, and India. The rub? Those markets are far from free and are beset by political instability, crumbling infrastructure, and rampant corruption. Profiting where others fear to tread means learning to play by an unfamiliar set of rules. What the authors provide, however, is more like a Dummies' Guide to Globalization, a checklist of vague, loosely connected strategies ("Appeal to parents," "Make your global brands local"). There is enough here to sketch out the challenge ahead, but small-business owners will need a better blueprint to operate in chaotic places so far from home. --TAHL RAZ