Intermediate Level

10 Steps to Grow Your Business

Whereas the introductory level only asked simple questions on one side of A4, 10 Steps to help your Business Grow, is in an A5 booklet, with examples and exercises.  It is designed to help the beneficiary’s business first become stable and then steadily grow, through a mixture of re-investment and good business  practices.

1. Setting objectives- Motivations and objectives
2. Analyze business - Strengths, problems and other influences
3. Market research - Customers, competitors, costs
4. Costing - Direct, indirect and fixed costs
5. Logistics - Stock time, transport, communication
6. Pricing - Influences on price setting
7. Promotion - Why and how
8. Cash flow - Money in & money out
9. Diversification - New products or new (customer) markets
10. Re-investment - Profit, savings, loans

Through following these steps, the beneficiary will be able to provide a sustainable profit for their business, an income for their family to pay for education, health, better diet etc and also to start making savings. The manual goes though a logical progression of what they need to analyze, think, plan and do and prepare them to complete the intermediate business plans.

Typical Beneficiaries

1. Type of business: Village grocery, large market stall
2. Client demographic: husband + wife partnership, educated, motivated to grow business, a number of dependants and looking after orphans
3. Business experience: Business been steadily growing, originally selling tomatoes and onions in village, been reinvesting profits and diversifying
4. Loan size: $500 - $1000
5. Motivation: Get second stage / advanced loan Further re-investment and expansion, buy means of production i.e. land for cultivation, fishing boat Become wholesaler or retailer, in village or town

Next steps

Once the trainee has completed the Intermediate Level of training, they should complete the Intermediate business plan and then they will be able to start the Advanced level of business training.