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At a time when the public and large-scale enterprise sectors’ abilities to create new employment have reached their limit in many countries, it is clear that most future jobs will be created in small-scale enterprises.
Few business management publications are simple and clear enough to be understood easily by people who have not been exposed to business training but which can still communicate the basic management skills required by entrepreneurs if they are to run small businesses successfully and to be competitive. This book is an attempt to fill the gap.
The underlying idea of the book is that improvements can best come from active and creative thinking by entrepreneurs about their own businesses. The purpose of this material is therefore to encourage such creative thinking and motivate entrepreneurs to take action to improve their businesses.
The book is an integral part of the “Start and Improve Your Business” (SIYB) programme which in turn is part of the ILO’s International Small Enterprise Programme. The SIYB programme has been designed to provide a sustainable and cost-effective method to reach substantial numbers of small-scale entrepreneurs and provide them with the practical management skills needed in a competitive environment for profitability and growth. The SIYB programme is progressively including principles of social concern in its business management training, thereby contributing to the enhancement of quality in employment in line with core ILO values.
The SIYB programme provides individuals and institutions with a comprehensive and interrelated set of training materials, aimed at a variety of target groups, and dealing with various topics related to small enterprise development such as training, business counselling, monitoring and evaluation, and networking. Small enterprise development institutions in more than 70 countries worldwide have used the SIYB programme.
This book can be seen as the new generation in the series of SIYB publications, and will gradually replace the IYB Handbook and Workbook published in 1986. It is accompanied by a practical Trainer’s Guide and the SIYB Game - an effective and dynamic learning tool that brings the learning points in the training programme to life. The Trainer’s Guide is adapted from a guide prepared by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for the territories under the Palestinian Authority and is reproduced by permission.
Credit is due to the authors of the book: Håkan Jarskog, Barbara Murray, Cecilia Karlstedt, and in particular to Mats Borgenvall, who had the creative vision. Håkan Jarskog adapted this edition from the original IYB Basics edition developed in Harare by a project financed by SIDA. Acknowledgement is also due to the many consultants who have contributed to the workings and to the innumerable trainers and entrepreneurs who have provided feedback and suggestions on how to present the learning elements. Martin Clemensson has managed the overall process of transforming an idea to a publication now being used throughout the ILO’s global network.
For more information about the ILO’s activities for enterprise development, you can either visit our Website https://www.ilo.org/entreprise, contact us at the International Labour Organization, Entrepreneurship and Management Development Branch, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or send us a fax on +41 22 799 7978.
M. Ishida, Director
Enterprise and Cooperative
Development
Department
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