Supporting entrepreneurs

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Comment by Tess Newton Cain on September 4, 2008 at 1:40am

I am the Vanuatu Country Manager for the "Enterprise Challenge Fund" (AusAID funded) - we provide grants to private sector enterprises to overcome external obstacles (such as inability to access commercial finance) in order to commercialise sound business projects that have pro-poor flow on benefits. Grants of AU$100,000 to AU$1.5 million are available on a matched basis (50/50 at a minimum). Visit our website for more info (www.enterprisechallengefund.org) or contact me to discuss Vanuatu-specific projects.

Comment by Amina Mohamud on August 11, 2008 at 7:43am

Hi Will,

A good approach would also to encourage local experts to volunteer their time to couch local enterpreneurs, most often it is easier for a local volunteer to understand the challenges faced by enterpreneurs.There could be alot of similarities in how business is done globally but there are specific situations where a person from overseas might not understand, in your programme do you have locals( ie kenyan professionals) volunteer working in your programme?

looking to hear from you

Amina

Comment by Will Snell on July 7, 2008 at 2:36pm

Tim

Thanks for yours. I agree that a lot of banks etc do require a level of security for lending that is too high for many viable businesses. As we don't provide funding ourselves (only mentoring support) it's less of an issue for us, but I agree that there is a need to do more than simply support those companies that have already demonstrated a certain level of success.

Comment by Tim White on July 3, 2008 at 7:15am

Hi Will,

Generally I find that companies who say they support entrepreneurs do so when there is virtually no risk. This is also how the banks work. Does your company also have this fail-safe approach or do you really get down to helping social business from the ground up?

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