Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) Role on Entrepreneurship
Non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) play an important role in promoting entrepreneurship
development in a number of ways:
1. Access to finance: NGOs
often provide financial assistance to entrepreneurs, such as microfinance
loans, which can help them start or expand their businesses.
2. Training and education:
NGOs may offer training programs that teach entrepreneurs the skills they need
to start and run a business, such as financial management, marketing, and
leadership.
3. Networking opportunities:
NGOs may also provide networking opportunities for entrepreneurs, such as
business incubators, accelerators, and mentoring programs, which can help them
connect with other entrepreneurs and potential investors.
4.
Advocacy: NGOs may advocate
for policies and regulations that support entrepreneurship development, such as
tax incentives for small businesses and access to government contracts.
5.
Social Entrepreneurship:
NGOs also support social entrepreneurship, which is a type of business that
addresses social or environmental issues, and creates sustainable solutions.
6.
Community development: NGOs
may also work in partnership with local communities to support entrepreneurship
development, by building capacity and improving the business environment.
In
summary, NGOs play an important role in promoting entrepreneurship development
by providing access to finance, training, networking opportunities, advocacy,
and community development, which can help entrepreneurs start, grow, and
sustain their businesses.
Entrepreneurship and Business Planning
Ventures that are thoughtfully planned
are more likely to succeed than those based primarily on guesswork and hope.
The business planning process in entrepreneurship helps an entrepreneur
identify exactly what needs to be accomplished to build the venture, and what
human and financial resources are required to implement the plan. It is a
planning tool that helps entrepreneur startups get where they are going. The
forecast profit and loss statement provides a means to compare actual results
to what had been forecast, and make corrections to business strategy if
shortfalls in revenue occur.
Aspects of a Business Plan
According
to the Small Business Administration, business planning for a start-up venture
or an established company does not have to be complicated. You start by
describing your products and services in relationship to those of competitors.
You describe what you will be doing that is superior to what customers have
seen from these other companies. This answers the critical question of why your
products solves a significant, current customer need. You then devise
strategies for introducing your products and services to the market. You
determine the costs of producing the products or delivering the services and
the marketing costs required to attract customers. You also plan the managerial
and staff resources required to accomplish all of these tasks, when they will
be hired, and what their compensation will be.
Know Your Customer
It
is vital for entrepreneurs to understand who their target customers are--those
who can benefit the most from the company’s products or services. According
to Forbes, knowing your customer can help you show that there is
significant opportunity and a good market for the goods or services you are
trying to provide. Knowing these prime customers’ demographic characteristics
allows you to tailor the marketing message so it is most effective.
Communicating with teenagers requires a different message and possibly
different media than reaching seniors. A depth of understanding about your
competition is similarly important. You want to identify their strengths so you
don’t attempt to compete with them head-on in a market where they have built an
insurmountable advantage. Knowing their weaknesses shows you where you can
capture customers from them.
Skills for Success
The
ability to envision how you want your company to evolve over the next three to
five years is important. These long-range goals help you determine the steps
and strategies you need to implement to reach them. A basic knowledge of
finance concepts helps you prepare logical financial models and projections
using spreadsheet software. Entrepreneurs should also have an understanding of
all the functional areas of a business so they can accurately project the costs
of running the business.
Planning Versus Writing
Entrepreneurs
don’t always understand that the planning process itself is of value. They have
been advised they should have a business plan document ready to present to
potential investors so they--sometimes reluctantly--devote the time to writing
a business plan. Ideally, the document is the final product of a planning
process that would be completed whether or not the company was actively seeking
capital. The plan is very much like a road map. It helps you choose the best
route to get to your destination--creating a successful venture.
Common Financial Miscalculations
Entrepreneurs
often underestimate how difficult it will be to launch a company. Gaining the
attention and trust of potential customers may take longer than the
entrepreneur envisioned. This can result in start-up capital being quickly
depleted. In a worst-case scenario, the company can go out of business because
its funding runs out. Adding five to ten percent more capital to the start-up
budget is a prudent way to allow for both lower than planned revenues and
higher than anticipated expenses.
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