Small Business Project Inc.

Small Business Project Inc. regards development of small business as an engine of growth in the emerging markets, and realizes that the success of any small business development program depends on the realistic program assessment and appropriate program design.

Our services are offered to international finance and development institutions who support development of small and medium enterprise programs in the emerging markets, Small Business Project Inc. services comprise:

Program assessment and design

Program Assessment and Design

Access to Finance

Supplier and Subcontractors Partnership Program

Communications Strategy

Legal and Regulatory Obstacles for Scaling Up Microfinance in Serbia. Mr. Arminio Rosic has in collaboration with the International Policy Fellowship program from Budapest and Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington D.C. published a paper on "Legal Obstacles for Scaling up Microfinance in Serbia." The Serbian legislators should concentrate on removing legal and regulatory obstacles which impede scaling up the microfinance industry through the formal financial sector. These obstacles relate to collateral pledging, compulsory reserves with the National Bank, foreign exchange positions, high costs of court registration taxes and similar. Besides the Central Register of pledges, which has recently been introduced in Serbia, it is necessary to establish Credit Bureau for companies, entrepreneurs and individuals. The addressing parties to these issues are the National Bank of Serbia and the Ministry of Finance, as well as other competent state authorities which are in charge of the commercial law reform. Published 2006 (available in Serbian and English language). Please contact info@smeproject.com You will receive your copy for a small fee.

Partnering with IBM to Provide Small Businesses with Business Resources. On September 27, 2006, IFC signed an agreement with IBM to develop and build a new busines management platform, a version 2 of the SME Toolkit. In collaboration between IBM, IFC and SBPI, small businesses in developing countries as well as women- and minority-owned businesses in the United States will benefit from interactive tools, online collaboration and educations content for small businesses. Since its inception in 2002, the SME Toolkit program has deployed more than 25 regional and sector-specific Web sites in collaboration with strategic partners in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. SME Toolkit Content has been translated into 12 languages. The Toolkit aims to address the three main impediments that SMEs face in utilizing technology for their business: access, lack of awareness/skills, and lack of locally applicable business applications/ information. Tools on the site address accounting and finance, business planning, human resources, legal and insurance, marketing and sales, operations and technology needs. SBPI is a Finance and Project Manager for the SME Toolkit since 2000.

Become an SME Toolkit Regional Partner. What it takes to manage the SME Toolkit in your country? SME Toolkit is not only an internet-platform. Toolkit can serve as 'train the trainers' program, and CD-Roms can be distributed through Chambers of Commerce, Financial institutions working with SMEs, and SME agencies. It can be a facilitation platform to create knowledge centers in different regions of the country. In September last year, a partnership was created with IBM, where IBM will build the second version of the technology platform. The SME Toolkit is a project of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. The SME Toolkit product consists of four parts:

A large body of best-of-breed, globally relevant content for SMEs--including free software, business forms, tools, how-to-articles, etc.
The "front-end" Web site through which end users can browse or search to find the information they need-- it's also possible to produce a static CD-ROM version of the Toolkit;
A back-end content management tool (the "Manager") that can allow a local partner to add, translate, and manage the Web site content and navigation in multiple languages simultaneously, as well as the branding, promotions, look and feel, etc. of the Web site; and
A detailed training curriculum based on the Toolkit that enables trainers to conduct hands-on, computer-based workshops for SMEs on business management issues.
A local implementation partner may license any or all of these components, depending on their needs.

We generally look for several things in a prospective implementation partner:

Reputable and interested private sector company, NGO, or government entity with the ability to reach a clearly defined local SME market.
They should have technical and content management expertise and staffing resources necessary to manage the project effectively after the software is installed and staff trained.
They should demonstrate commitment to proactively managing the local project by committing at least one full-time staff resource to project manage it and dedicating resources for local content development, marketing, training, etc. on an ongoing basis.
They should have access to funding to localize the SME Toolkit (both the content and the Web site navigation) for their target market.
Localization can entail both translating the existing globally relevant content, as well as supplementing it with additional locally relevant content.
Translation costs for all 400+ items of content currently in the SME Toolkit (approximately 600,000 words) are estimated at roughly US$60,000 when using international translation firms with technical capability to work in xml.
The cost of translation may be lower if local translation firms in emerging markets are used.
The license for the Toolkit software and content is free, but the implementation cost for creating a new version of the Toolkit, testing it, installing and supporting the software, migrating to future versions of the software, and training staff to use the content management system and offer training workshops averages US$30,000, depending on the level of support required. We are sometimes able to help raise funding to cover implementation costs.

The process of implementation with a partner generally averages 2 - 5 months, depending on the level of involvement required. The general implementation process is as follows:

If the International Finance Corporation and a prospective partner decide to form a partnership for the purposes of this project, a legal partnership agreement is signed, which protects both parties as well as the copyright of the various content partners.
Together with the SME Toolkit team, you will develop an implementation plan based on the partner's objectives and available resources.
SME Toolkit team will provide the partner with a list of content, and partner would select which items they wanted to include in the localized version of the SME Toolkit.
In some cases, SME Toolkit team could help facilitate any necessary changes to the user interface of the SME Toolkit.
SME Toolkit team could advise on the process for translation and other services, for example, CD-ROM production, if necessary.
SME Toolkit team would then install the Web portal and administrative tool and train the local staff to use it (if the partner has opted to use the Toolkit software).
SME Toolkit team can train local trainers to offer ongoing, computer-based training workshops for SMEs using the Toolkit.
SME Toolkit team could help assist with the development of marketing plans for the distribution of the SME Toolkit within the target market.
The implementation partner is responsible for managing content going forward.
We look forward to working with you to service SMEs in your region!

Snezana Selakovic, Manager, Zlatibor d.o.o., Regional SME Development Agency, Serbia

"SBPI has gently helped us to identify our strengths and weaknesses and has encouraged us to plan out and to visualize a five-year strategy for our Agency. The most important is that SBPI has shared with us their positive energy and has empowered us to become more self-confident in order to remain an important change-agent and a catalyst for SME development in the Southern Serbia/ Zlatibor region. In some instances, SBPI has opened our eyes, and we would like to extend our gratitude.”

Melanie Webb, General Manager of Sol Fitness Adventure (www.soladventure.com)

“SBPI was instrumental in providing the guidance needed to get Sol started. Although I consider myself to be a talented young professional, I lacked the confidence and support to turn my dreams of owning my own business into reality. Working with a mentor from SBPI felt as if I had a partner, someone who cared as much about Sol’s success as I did. I was instilled with inspiration and motivation from our very first meeting.

One vital component that I needed was the financial realities of running a business. After my mentor ran the financial analysis we realized that our original service, the backpacking trip to Utah, was not going to produce enough revenue to be profitable. The company was barely breaking even. With SBPI’s guidance, we added more services that would create additional revenue streams throughout the year.

Investing in a business mentor from Small Business Project was the most important step taken to launch Sol Fitness Adventures. The value was priceless!”