ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (EDP)
1.0 General
This is an integrated approach involving training, counseling and mentoring and project implementation support to facilitate emergence and sustainability of new entrepreneurs. The programme aims at helping the potential entrepreneurs to identify business opportunities, formulate business plans, strengthen entrepreneurial competencies and acquire skills in managing a small venture and successfully run a small business venture which would then grow. The programme involves about 150 hours of training followed by project implementation support through business counseling, technological and financial tie-ups, and mentoring.
2.0 Objectives
- To facilitate self-directed behavioral change in the identity of the participants leading to internalization of entrepreneurial competencies.
- To help the potential entrepreneurs identify business ideas, prepare business plans and acquire an overall understanding of managing a small enterprise.
- To counsel, mentor and support the participants in launching and running their enterprises
- Ultimately, to facilitate the emergence and growth of new enterprises and in the process, develop an "enterprising culture" in the community.
3.0 Key Programme features:
- Every trainee entrepreneur can be helped to access needed seed capital from a Fund set up specifically to offer seed capital and/or from affiliated financial institution
- Every trainee must twin up with a participating bank which/who would support the business after the mentoring period
- Every trainee entrepreneur is matched with a successful business entrepreneur or CEO of a leading business entity who will mentors the trainee for the initial two years of project implementation in order to increase the success chances of the business.
EDP offers integrated support to potential entrepreneurs and provides following enterprise development tasks
- Identify and select committed entrepreneur
- Develop entrepreneurial competencies
- Link with viable business opportunities
- Help prepare business plans
- Equip with managerial understanding
- Organize finance, infrastructure and implementation support
- Match with successful entrepreneurs and CEOs for mentoring
- Follow-up and trouble shooting
4.0 Who can participate
EDP participants need to posses the following profile:
- A desire to set up their own small enterprise
- Working knowledge of English and Kiswahili, the languages used in training sessions
- Preferably between 25 and 40 years of age
- A threshold level of entrepreneurial competencies (soft skills) as evident from a formal selection process through a competence questionnaire administered to applicants
- Formal education (preferably at least up to form 6 level)