Building the Capacity of Service Providers to Deliver Effective and Sustainable Enterprise Training

1
Building the Capacity of Service Providers to
Deliver Effective and Sustainable Enterprise
Training
Presenter Wendy Rimer Microenterprise
Conference BYU Program for Economic Self-Reliance
March 14, 2003
2

• Presentation Overview
• Overview of Making Cents
• Business Development Services Model
• Case study FNGPF
• Case Study Peace Corps Senegal
• Lessons Learned
• Trends Looking Ahead

3
What is Making Cents?

• Small woman-owned consulting firm established in
  1998 and based in Washington, DC.
• Specializes in increasing the capacity of
  financial and business service providers to
  better deliver services to micro, small and
  medium-sized entrepreneurs worldwide through
• the provision of innovative experiential
  methodology training materials, and
• training of trainer courses.

4
What is Making Cents?

• Making Cents has 13 training curricula that fall
  within 3 categories
• Business skills training for entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneurship education for youth and
• Microfinance Institution Loan Assessor Training
• Curricula are available in 15 languages
  (including Spanish and Portuguese) and have been
  used in 24 countries.

5
BDS Model
6
Service Providers and their Beneficiaries

• Trainees
• Urban and peri-urban low-income women
• National traders credit union
• Micro and small entrepreneurs operating
  manufacturing and service businesses
• Technical colleges and skills training programs
• Vocational training programs
• Unemployed youth and adults
• Peace Corps volunteers and Community Partners

• Trainers trained
• Local consulting firms
• Individual consultants
• Business associations
• Microfinance institutions
• NGOs
• Schools
• Training centers
• Government agencies

7
Capacity Building of Service Providers

• Supply effective curriculum
• Experiential methodology
• Minimal adaptation
• Effective approach
• Straightforward to facilitate

• Training of Trainer course
• Facilitation
• Adaptation
• Integration

8
Methodology
Training of Trainers course
Making Cents Trainer
Service Providers/ Trainers
Entrepreneurs
9
Fédération Nationale des
Groupements de Promotion Féminine (FNGPF)
Network of Associations for Womens
Development Source Interviews conducted
with program directors Sept. - Oct. 2002
Case Study
10
Capacity Building of Service Providers
Case Study
DynaEnterprises (75 support)
? Service Provider ? Making
Cents (technical assistance)

11
Case Study FNGPF

• FNGPF Overview
• Mission Expansion of Senegalese womens social
  and economic empowerment through varied
  programs.
• Include economic and social promotion through
  income generating activities
• expanding management abilities access to credit
• 54 Savings and credit groups (called GECs)
• Support collective or individual enterprises
• 2 million members in network
• 7,000 womens groups
• Serve all regions of Senegal

12
Case Study FNGPF

• Challenge/Problem FNGPF is trying to address
• As economic activities move from buying and
  selling to transformation and production (e.g.
  turning raw material into products for sale)
• Problems in the areas of organization,
  management, financial planning and control. (Lack
  of basic business skills)
• Creates a threat that entrepreneurs will not be
  able to reimburse GECs or default on loan.
• FNGPFs Response
• Increase members knowledge of enterprise
  management
• skills and ability to implement them.
• Management training as a requirement for loan in
  areas with
• regular training sessions

13
Case Study FNGPF

• Strategy
• Develop internal capacity to deliver mgmt
  training to clients
• 8 FNGPF agents and 17 GEC managers trained.
• Pilot training in Dakar, adapt for local use.
• If successful, offer courses at different levels
  of
• implementation by region.
• Stimulate demand for training based on quality,
• relevance, and affordability.
• Generate Additional revenue through sale of
  training services to other organizations.
• Trainers paid at a commission as an incentive for
  delivering training.

14

Case Study FNGPF

• TRAINING
• Entrepreneurs pay a training fee of 5,000 CFA
  (USD 8)
• Facilitator 1,500 FCFA
• Supplies 500 FCFA
• Rent training facilities
• 1,000 FCFA
• Contribution to GECs
• capital 2,000 FCFA

15

Case Study FNGPF

• Fees and Costs Kept Low by
• Organizing training sessions locally
• Holding sessions after lunch
• Recycling some of the supplies (pencils,
  erasers, etc.)
• Using in-house facilitators
• Training Provided from December 2001-March 2002
• 158 women trained in GEC cooperative in Thiès
• 4-5 day sessions

16

Case Study FNGPF

• Feedback from Entrepreneurs
• Content
• Relevant and applicable learning
• planning
• book keeping
• negotiation
• marketing
• pricing and costing
• quality

17
Case Study FNGPF

• Methodology
• Appreciated hands-on interesting, easy to
  learn, not intimidating
• Initial skepticism of value of training, changed
  with experience
• Impact
• Increased enterprise revenues
• Improved household budgeting
• Understand the big picture
• Worthwhile use of time
• Worth paying for
• Additional training desired
• Skepticism of value of training changed by
  personal experience

18
Case Study FNGPFResults
Some of the results of this strategy on the
cooperative in Thiès

• Increase in membership base
• Increase in savings level
• Increase in portfolio outstanding

28 102 73
19

Case Study

• Peace Corps Senegal
• Building capacity of service providers/
  entrepreneurs to provide sustainable business
  skills courses
• Challenge
• How to make fee-for-service training affordable

20
Case Study Peace Corps Senegal

• Overview
• Making Cents provided Training-of-Trainers for
  8 Peace Corps volunteers and 8 local Senagalese
  in April 2002.

21
Case Study Peace Corps Senegal

• Objective
• To train Senagalese with the business and
  facilitation skills to develop and run their own
  micro-entrepreneurs training service.
• Volunteers would serve as consultants to the
  local Senagalese.
• Results
• Example of one local Senagalese, Mr. Samb, who
  started own consulting business to provide
  business skills training.
• Clients include Youth associations and womens
  associations of more than 3,000 members.

22
Case Study Peace Corps Senegal

• Strategies for achieving sustainability
• Provided training for 20 youth. Charged 2.000
  FCFA (US 3.50) to participate in training.
• Members of womens association are now required
  to receive the business skills training provided
  by Mr. Samb prior to receiving financing.
  (Financing provided through a grant to the
  Association from the Minister of Family and
  Children.)

23
Case Study Peace Corps Senegal
Feedback on Entrepreneurs

• One woman and member of a youth association
  who received training from Mr. Samb said that
  after 3 years of attending trainings, nothing was
  as helpful as the training in Game Plan (Esprit
  dEntreprise) that helped to clarify exactly what
  it takes to start a business.
• Jennifer Hawkins, Peace Corps volunteer

24
Lessons Learned

• Building the Capacity of Service Providers
• Develop the capacity of local suppliers to
  deliver training.
• This helps to keep costs low which makes
  trainers services affordable to
  micro-entrepreneurs.
• Local service providers have access to market
  because they live in the same communities.
• Important to build trainers business planning
  skills in order to develop a business plan to
  offer training in a sustainable manner.
• Helpful if management training compliments
  existing services

25
Lessons Learned

• Building the Capacity of Service Providers
• Need a relevant training tool and the ability to
  facilitate learning using this tool.
• Increases their capacity as an entrepreneur to
  offer a valuable service.
• Having a training tool provides a young trainer
  with a skill and increases credibility,
  especially with peers.
• Training sessions can be offered internally at
  very low cost if the right strategies are
  developed
• Training materials must have relevant content,
  interest participants, be easy to use, be low
  maintenance.

26
Lessons Learned

• Building the Capacity of Service Providers
• Trainers
• Trainers motivated by financial incentive
• Assists with quality and marketing
• Capacity issues
• Use of cooperative managers (GEC) as facilitators
  became a problem due to their workload.
• Solution was to find better educated (board)
  members not involved in management.
• Training Materials must be easy to implement with
  little or no on-going costs.
• With expansion, outsourcing may be necessary

27
Lessons Learned

• For Service Providers to Offer Sustainable
  Management Training
• Fees
• Participants enthusiasm for training increases
  their willingness to pay fees
• Hook entrepreneurs with a taste
• Important to reduce training costs to keep fees
  affordable to entrepreneurs
• Fees can be modest and still profitable
• rural areas

28
Lessons Learned

• For Service Providers to Offer Sustainable
  Management Training
• Market
• Very broad
• Great demand for training materials to provide
  business skills to the poor, who often can't read
  or write
• Different trainers suited to different clients

29




Lessons Learned

• Entrepreneurs
• Willing to pay for training of quality and
  impact
• Require proof that training is worthwhile

30
Trends Looking Ahead
Trends with Service Providers Offering Management
Training

• Internal
• Continued and increased charging of fees
• Increased reach
• Greater outsourcing
• Using internal trainers as external service
• providers
• Continued product innovation and expansion

31
Trends Looking Ahead
Trends with Service Providers Offering Management
Training

• External
• Delivery of training to entrepreneurs
• where delivery paid by funders (why
• turn your back on the cash cow?)
• Growth of contracting directly with
• entrepreneurs
• Increased revenues from this area of
• training
• Increased specialization