A global programme which cultivates SMEs in 50 developing countries and countries with economies in transition - what it is and how it works The Improve Your Business (IYB) management training programme has been introduced to 50 countries worldwide: in Africa, Asia, Arab States, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. The objective of the IYB programme is to increase the viability of small-scale enterprises through the application of sound management principles, leading to the creation and sustenance of employment. The ILO developed the programme in response to member States' requests for a relevant, low-cost and effective management training package suitable for developing countries. The programme assists in meeting the global employment challenge by contributing to the creation of quality jobs in the small-scale private enterprise sector through improved business performance, and is an important part of the ILO's wider programme of activities in support of small enterprise development. The programme originates from the Swedish Employers' Confederation's self-analysis package entitled "Look After Your Firm", which was adapted for use in developing countries by the ILO with financial support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The IYB programme is a system of inter-related training packages and support materials which provide small-scale enterprise owners and managers in developing countries with basic business management skills. By applying the management skills gained through IYB training, the entrepreneurs are able to cost and price their products properly, increase sales, buy inputs competitively, improve stock control, reduce costs, plan for the future, and eventually, increase the profitability of their businesses. The IYB programme is essentially a training instrument, but it has integrated counselling, promotion of self-help associations, networking, promotion of service institutions and policy dialogue components.
The "Start Your Business" (SYB) component has a similar delivery structure as IYB and aims at people who want to start their own businesses. The end products of the training are a Feasibility Study for the potential business and an Action Plan for the potential entrepreneur.
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) has been the major donor to the programme. Other donors, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Norway, USA, UNDP, have made further contributions. As the executing agency, the ILO promotes, manages, staffs and gives technical and strategic direction to the programme. It has also made financial contributions for project formulation missions and development of training materials. To strengthen the impact of institutions and organizations which assist small enterprises, the IYB programme supports: employers' organizations, private sector associations, chambers of commerce, NGOs, small enterprise support parastatals, government departments and private consulting companies. This diversity of delivery groups helps the programme to optimize its outreach.
Subject to availability of funding, the ILO trains the user organizations' trainers, who, in turn, train entrepreneurs. Through this multiplier effect, large numbers of entrepreneurs benefit from the programme at low cost, while continuous quality is assured by a monitoring and evaluation system which assesses the programme's impact. The training of trainers is geared towards capacity building for the user organizations. This is facilitated by conducting workshops for the directors and training managers of the organizations, on training administration and evaluation. Until recently, training of trainers and directors was done by the project itself. To enhance sustainability and continuity, the project now accredits national Master Trainers to conduct IYB trainer development seminars. The trainers are provided with guidelines for how to carry out counselling, how to network with other SED providers, and how to monitor and evaluate their own and the entrepreneurs' performances.
The ILO helps interaction between organizations that use IYB. Also, national IYB programmes are part of an international network which aims at continuous development and upgrading of the programme and at an exchange of experiences and best practice.
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Results at the enterprise level
More than 100,000 entrepreneurs in developing countries worldwide have benefitted to date. In 1993, an evaluation by SIDA noted that "firms that have taken part in the training programme tend to have higher growth rates than the national averages for the small-scale industry sector. Most of them employed more people during the last year. They are more profitable as a group than other companies." The evaluation concluded that the IYB programme had a substantial impact on entrepreneurs in terms both of business performance and profits, and of employment generation.
Results at the institutional level
Almost as important as the impact at the entrepreneurial level, are the effects at the institutional level, where the IYB programme has strengthened the operational capacity of user organizations. Some 3500 trainers have been trained in how to apply the IYB programme, and a networking mechanism has been developed enabling organizational users to take fullest advantage of their complementarities.
Participating organizations now meet all costs related to programme implementation at the national level: a clear expression of their commitment to its value. Because of this, its chances of being sustained are enhanced.