Fundacin Namaste Guatemaya

The Namaste Business Development Program

For NGOs and MFIs

Key Components
The Vision The Namaste Business Development Program
The Namaste Business Development Program for NGOs and MFIs

Timelines and Metrics Costs

-Namaste Deliverables -NGO and MFI Deliverables

The Vision

Our vision is that low-income entrepreneurs in the developing world will have the tools and access to business information necessary to attain higher business cash flow and thereby move from semi-poverty towards middle class. This will promote the well being of each entrepreneur and their family, healthy community economics and participatory democracy. Fundacin Namaste Guatemaya (FNG) functions as a poverty alleviation test laboratory. Our goal is to continually test new ways to increase the monthly business cash flow of low income women, which will accelerate their rate of achieving financial stability and fund betterments in their families. Our current initiative, the Namaste Business Development Program (tested to date on more than 1,000 participants), includes an eighteen-month program that incorporates personal business mentorship, financial literacy training and personalized small business loans. The program is divided into two nine-month cycles, the second of which includes advanced training. We measure our program effectiveness on the basis of the percentage increase in monthly cash flow streams experienced by enrolled borrowers.

We believe that our learning model will benefit participating Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) in several ways: NGOs MFIs
NGOs offering social benefit programs such as nutrition and food security, health services, clean water access, housing improvements, modernized farming techniques and extension of years of schooling for children, will find that clients received the Namaste Business Development training and mentoring will have increased income from business that will allow them to purchase on their own the benefits previously given to them at no or little cost. This integrates income generation and job creation into the NGO services and is a direct answer to the question of sustainability. MFIs offering credit to clients will see multiple benefits via the Namaste learning model such as- increasing client cash flow guarantees better loan performance and therefore reduced delinquencies and loan losses, MFIs will be able to more successfully operate in red zones, serving poorer clients, expanding their outreach, MFIs will have better trained, more skilled personnel working with their clients, increasing professionalization of the industry, and participating MFIs will gain competitive advantage over credit only operations

To date three MFIs have participated in our test phase (Raz, CARE and FAPE, all Guatemalan based institutions) and the results have been sufficiently encouraging for Namaste to have designed a program whereby NGOs and MFIs can take the process in house, thereby greatly expanding the number of benefiting borrowers.

The Namaste Business Development Program

Principal Features of the Program:
The provision of a personal Business Adviser (BA) for each woman for two
nine month cycles. The BA helps each client develop a business plan as a condition for a loan. After the loan is made the BA documents the use of funds, making sure that at least 80% (and usually more) of the loan goes into the clients business. Thereafter the BA meets each month to help the client record monthly income and expenses, to offer suggestions for cash flow improvement and to adjust the business plan when necessary. A full-scale review of the clients business is made at the end of each loan cycle.*

The provision of group training sessions via an educational specialist that

devotes their time to evaluate, improve and deliver sessions in basic and advanced business concepts, techniques, strategies and tactics. These training modules are based on proven classroom materials designed for Guatemalan needs and are given in three separate two hour sessions during the first month of each cycle. Examples of modules include: Plan for a Better Business; Manage Your Business Money; Debt Management; Increase Your Sales; Understand Your Customers; Customer Service; Sell to the Right Kind of Customer for You; Improve Your Products or Services; Sell New, Complementary Products or Services; Seize Opportunities to Sell; Sell Where the Customers Buy the Most; Set the Right Price; and Savings.

Personalized Small Business Loans

tailored to the needs of the business.

*Each client pays a total of 100Q ($12.50) per nine month loan cycle for these services.

The Namaste Business Development Program

for NGOs and MFIs
NGOs and MFIs desiring to incorporate the Namaste Business Development Program into their operations currently can enter into an agreement to receive all elements of the package. Participating NGOs and MFIs will also receive program refinements as developed by Namastes work with its test base of over 1000 clients and will be given the opportunity to access major new development work such as new data base metrics.

Namaste Deliverables
The Basic Package
Personnel: Namaste will counsel NGOs and MFIs on the selection of Business Advisers and will train the
selected staff to the point of being field ready to take on individual clients.

The Business Development System: Namaste will train the staff in:

Namaste will provide a flow chart, program goals, success measurements, policies and procedures of the Namaste Business program to the NGO or MFI and help them to make any necessary changes to make the program suitable for its community. The general philosophy of Namaste Business Development Program including how and why it can benefit them and their clients alike Holding group business education training sessions How to be effective business mentors The use of the Namaste Data Base for maintaining client records and client advisement

Namaste will provide:

Materials for Educational Specialists (ES) use in leading client groups in basic business training classes and train the ES in their use.

Field observation opportunities,

presenting both the technical skills needed and providing the hands-on experience in facilitating non-formal education within the lending group.

Written materials for BAs regarding consulting clients in

their business operations. Details of the materials include: the cash flow worksheet, a guide on how to use it, and a brainstorming guide on how to identify common problems within the clients business based on the cash flow analysis and a booklet for the clients to assist in the transmission of knowledge from the BAs to the clients. Namaste will train BAs on gathering client information in their monthly one-on-one meetings and examples of typical client business problems and the solutions thereto.

Written materials for NGO or MFIs use in managing

BAs. A Namaste Supervisor will also provide training for the NGO or MFI supervisor on the differences between managing a BA and a Loan Officer (LO); how to maintain the quality of BA advise; application of forms; planning and daily operation techniques of running an efficient and effective group of BAs.

Written materials and training of the NGO or MFI IT

(information technology) person who will interface with the Namaste IT director as the need arises. The NGO or MFI IT person will be responsible to see that BAs are complying with all data base protocols.

PROSPER

Namastes Online Business Development Management Database

Namaste uses its proprietary PROSPER database to manage all aspects of its operations.
The database contains three levels: (1) client (2) NGO and MFI and (3) Business Adviser and Loan Officer. New data fields can be added to reflect special interests of NGOs or MFIs.
Each Client view will include:
Name, address and phone number, Cedula number (SSN), Date of birth, Marital status, Native language, Highest level of education, Literacy level, Number of family members, Number of household earners, Total family income, Source of income, Poverty Indicators i.e. water and electricity, Number of children attending school, Access to medical care, Amount requested for loan, Attendance records, Anticipated business investment, Amount of time with current business, Amount of savings, Outstanding loans, Loan history, Community references, Credit report, Business information including time spent at work, General business activities, Balance sheet, assets & liabilities, Current cash flows, Business goals & use of loan, Projected cash flows w/ loan, Photos and video clips.

The NGO and MFI view will include:

Aggregated information of all program clients and business advisors, and program evaluation metrics, all on a drill down enabled basis. The user will also be able to see aggregated and drill down information on % of loan funds invested by clients in their business and relate loan payments to business income. Namaste will train BAs and supervisors to use the data base, so they can know how to evaluate the progress of a clients business, and of managing and evaluating the program in general. Namaste will also provide a troubleshooting document to help BAs to know the common problems and solutions of working with a database.

bled), portfolio summary results as to client cashflow results, time and expense records, and personal pictures. The NGO or MFI will also be able to see the BAs monthly work plan.

Each Business Adviser and Loan Officer view will include: personal profile, client portfolio (drill down ena-

NGO and MFI Deliverables

For The Basic Package
Prescreened Business Adviser candidates to be trained in groups of 8-12. They are to have been
pre-screened for meeting Namaste qualifications*, for level of interest and for the qualitative characteristics of successful advisers**. They will need to be available for three weeks (120 hours) of training. This includes classroom training time as well as work in the field, most of which is held in Antigua and the surrounding communities. Namaste will provide references for logistical considerations regarding travel and lodging. *Namaste Candidate Qualifications: Experienced in owning a profitable business for at least two years, understands the basic principles that made his/her business a success, knows her village and market opportunities and is willing to be innovative in thinking about different market solutions for the clients, can do a simple feasibility study, creative, inspiring, motivating and participatory, realistic in assessments of business and willing to speak up, reads and speaks Spanish and speaks the local language of the area, willing to travel and go to training sessions, able to write and send reports electronically, has a good reputation in the community, especially for business dealing. **Examples of Qualitative Characteristics Namaste looks for in selecting BA candidates include: Up-and-comers eager to show management potential, people with demonstrated evaluation and advising skills, people who want more out of their job, people with real empathy for their clients, people who have had outstanding businesses themselves and industrious MFI personnel who have become frustrated with late payment problems and want to learn how to prevent them.

Suitable Clients for Program Participation

Clients must be willing to invest at least 80% of their loan into their business. Clients who are receiving loans for consumption, durable good purchases or other purposes are not proper clients for business training. Namaste recommends that clients carry no more than one simultaneous loan. Namaste prefers that clients have at least one years experience in running commercial businesses such as small stores, the selling of food, vegetables, artisan products and so forth. Clients that are in large animal production or medium/long term crop cycle farming are less suitable for the program because of the shortage of short-term business feedback loops that promote change and improvements, and because of change resistant agricultural traditions. Prospective participants must also be willing to meet in groups for the education session.

Suitable Facilities for Class Room Training

Specifics are: Computers or cell phones, office supplies, a quiet environment, a white board, and a room large enough to accommodate practice group sessions. Locations that are close to clients to facilitate field practice are preferred.

An NGO or MFI representative who will be supervising

the BAs is to be present at all sessions involving Namaste and the BAs. This is to insure that the supervisors will have a thorough understanding of all aspects of a BAs work, that they will give the BAs feedback on their work and that they can assess the relevance of the sessions for their clients.

The NGO or MFI will also provide all client promotion and acquisition work and the loan fund needs of clients.

Timelines and Metrics

There must be at least 3 months allowed for recruitment of BAs, training, and planning before implementing the program with clients. The metrics will be: Quality of the advising Participation of clients in meeting and individual meetings Frequency rate of clients applying BA business advice Rate of increase of the cash flow of the client by the cycle Quality of evaluative reports prepared by BAs as to client progress Clients feedback

Costs

Individualized proposals will be provided to NGOs and MFIs interested in the services provided by Fundacion Namaste Guatemaya based on numbers of personnel to be trained, locations for trainings, transportation and lodging logistics, materials etc.

NamasteGuatemaya Barrio el Calvario, Callejon Santa Isabel # 10, Antigua, Guatemala Tel 502-7832-4826