Aerating and Irrigating

I was reminded recently of an attempt I made in high school to start an aerating business during the summer break.  I determined that if I worked throughout the summer, I could make a good deal of money.  I figured I could make about $20 a lawn and that I could aerate about 5 lawns a day.  That comes to about $100 a day or $500 dollars a week.  Over a three month summer, I could have taken in over $6000 dollars.  For me, that would have been an extremely large amount of money.  However, I had one big problem, I needed an Aerator, which cost, somewhere in the visinity of $1500, if my memory is correct.  I went and looked into getting an aerators, but I had two problems.  I didn't have the $1500 to buy an aerator and even if I could get the money from my dad, I was far to scared that I wouldn't make enough money to pay him back by the end of the summer.  This effectively ended my plans to go into business as an aerator.
I realized that this is effectively the same type of situation many people in the developing world are put in when given the option to purchase income generating products, such as irrigation tools.  They may not have the money to invest.  However, even if they can get the money, they are likely to be to scared to buy the product in fear that they will not be able to turn a profit, and as a result, not have the money to provide for their families.  This to me seems to be one of the primary concerns when it comes to poverty alleviation.  How can we help those who because of lack of money, or because of fear that they will end up not turning a profit are unwilling to invest in these income generating tools?  If anyone who reads this now, or three years in the future has any ideas as to how to combate this issue, please share.