Contributing to the sustainability and growth of small and micro businesses in the second economy through skills development requires the facilitating of improved responsiveness to the training needs of emerging entrepreneurs (EEs).

The traditional mentor model with one-on-one mentor/mentee interventions are the preferred method of choice but can lead to various obstacles i.e.:

• The difficulty in successful matching of the right mentor to a specific EE.
• The management of the interface between the EDP’s and the mentor
• The limited pool of business mentors in a specific Business Cluster i.e. the catering-, manufacturing-, construction- and services sectors.

An alternative model is available that focuses on the adoption of a cluster approach to addressing the needs of the EE in the second economy. This approach ensures that more than one mentee can be mentored at a time by a mentor, saving time and costs to the client.

Apart from our extensive and diverse mentorship interventions available, IBS has a unique 3 –in1 development solution to ensure that the maximum exposure are given to entrepreneurs to develop into sustainable business managers.

Our Mentorship programmes are available for both individuals as well as other developmental entities that wish to implement a mentorship project.

We also provide training interventions for Mentors and coaches in the SMME Development arena.

3-IN1 SMME DEVELOPMENT MODEL

To date many efforts have been made by various service providers to establish a comprehensive workable solution in the development of sustainable businesses for emerging entrepreneurs.

All limitations in the process to develop the emerging market can be addressed by a combination of training, coaching and mentorship, as well as ensuring sustainable support systems for SMME’s  and their support staff to maintain and improve strategies to assist in developing their businesses. We at IBS calls this our 3-in 1 solution.

The combination of training, coaching and mentorship envisaged in this proposal is designed to achieve the following:

• To meet the objectives of the SETA’S by establishing the capacity of the emerging enterprises to be sustainable and thereby to ensure further job creation.
• To compliment and integrate the formal learning from a proposed training program (NVC) with hands-on coaching and specialized mentorship.
• To provide cost-effective and closely monitored services under one roof by experienced and committed facilitators, coaches and mentors and consultants.

Training, coaching and mentorship are often mistaken to be similar in action and outcomes in the development process. The difference however is as follows:

• Training is a generic intervention which provides a group of people with information.
• Business Coaching is a hands-on process where knowledge is transferred from a knowledgeable individual, on site, with the aim to confront, establish openness and agreement, initiate change and to create the habit of sound business principles. 
• Mentorship is a one on one experiential process which transfers business specific information and skills from a field expert, willing to share, to an emerging entrepreneur.

It is obvious that all three the mentioned development strategies as a package could benefit an emerging entrepreneur and provide results for SETA’s to establish sustainable micro and small businesses for the second economy.

It is of utmost importance to realize that the implementation and establishing of the learning areas in isolation will not be sufficient to reach the required objectives of this program. All roll players will have to buy in to the concept and a new innovative development culture for a successful business will have to be adopted by the SMME, the trainer, the coach, the mentor as well as the SSETA and all supporting institutions.

We firmly believe that this approach will address most of the problems that have been experience with regards to the development of SMME’s and in particular the emerging market.