The "Six Pack" for small and medium enterprises (SME) development and Business Development Services (BDS) gives you the opportunity to make your SME development project functionnal in a short time frame: Introduce the BDS approach, agree with partner organizations and train BDS facilitators (two months). After two months you are completely operational for concrete services on the ground: start the first 6-month BDS cycle. Simoultaneously implement the other products, especially M+E and networking. After eight months you will get the first documented results.

Product description 1: The 6-month BDS Cycle Approach.  Demand-driven Business Development Services (BDS) www.bds-forum.net/download/product1-six-month-bds-cycles.pdf  90 KB. The demand driven 6-month BDS cycle approach is a participatory method comprising of situation and problem analysis and action planning (one month) and the implementation of services to overcome the identified business constraints (five months). The business owners are assisted by BDS facilitators of partner organizations to identify their main business constraints and to suggest own solutions in collaboration with BDS providers.  

Product description 2: Internet based BDS and Business Information Portals
www.bds-forum.net/download/product2-bds-internet-portals.pdf  95 KB. Different BDS and business information media - such as Internet BDS Portals, CD-ROM BDS Portals, Email based BDS newsletters and printed handbooks - provide the necessary background information for business counselling, strategy discussion, experience exchange and networking. They complete the Business Development Services (BDS) of business consultants on enterprise level.

Product description 3: Bottom-up Organizational Development of Partner Organizations www.bds-forum.net/download/product3-bottom-up-od.pdf  80 KB. The bottom-up organizational development is a simple tool to improve the service delivery performance and management of partner organizations. Start with the existing management system of the organization and improve step by step (bottom-up). Do not force an external management system to a local structure (top-down).

Product description 4: Don't make always the same mistakes in Networking www.bds-forum.net/download/product4-networking.pdf  90 KB. Creating a Business Development Services (BDS) Network. The SME/BDS network will be a forum of experience exchange, coordination and policy dialogue between public and private institutions and entrepreneurs. Avoid heavily formalised structure of Network. Structures with President, Secretary, Board of directors, Membership fees etc. are not absolutely necessary for efficient networking. Main purpose of networking is experience exchange and coordination. For this, periodical meetings e.g. 3-monthly meetings are sufficient and should not be formalised by rules and regulations.  

Product description 5: Monitoring and Evaluation System for international programmes and projects www.bds-forum.net/download/product5-m+e-development-projects.pdf  73 KB. In our understanding activity monitoring is the basis of impact evaluation: How can you evaluate the performance and quality of a programme if you do not know what and how much has been done? Our M+E system includes activity monitoring as well as impact evaluation and M+E document management.

Product description 6: Monitoring and Evaluation System for local partner organizations www.bds-forum.net/download/product6-m+e-local-partner-organizations.pdf  81 KB. Taking into account that your partner organizations do not have the financial and management capacities of an international project, you will know that you cannot force an international high level M+E system on a local structure. That is why basic activity monitoring by basic data collection and basic impact evaluation by periodical SWOT analysis meetings will give you better results than the useless attempt to get everything.

All in One: Products 1-6 in one document
www.bds-forum.net/download/sixpack-for-sme-development.pdf  260 KB