Please use this form to submit your study for inclusion into our database. It will be checked by a member of the Innovation Growth Lab team, who may be in contact to ask for more information. Your email address * Your name * Title * The name of the study Short summary This paper explores whether skills training in business performance and customer practices was a promising way to increase business outcomes among self-employed workers who operate small businesses in developing countries. A brief description of the project's goals and its current state Abstract <p>This paper explores whether skills training in business performance and customer practices was a promising way to increase business outcomes among self-employed workers who operate small businesses in developing countries. Taining in business-management skills and business and inter-personal skills was randomize among BRAC’s Small Enterprise Programme firm owners in Liberia. Firm owners who received either training experienced an increase in attention to customers, which consequently enhanced the performance of the businesses, including higher average monthly revenue, less loss of customers, and a smaller likelihood of encountering business losses. Customers, however, reported no effect on their customer experiences. </p> The full abstract of the study, if available Links https://ssrn.com/abstract=3600962 Links to any published papers and related discussions Authors * Affiliations Academic and other institutes that the authors of the study are members of Delivery partner Organisations involved in delivering the trial, if appropriate Year Year Year199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026 Month MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Day Day12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031 Journal Journal publishing the study, if available Publication stage * Working Paper Published Ongoing Research Forthcoming Discussion Paper Research theme * Entrepreneurship Innovation Business Growth Country Country or countries where this study took place. Topics What sort of topics does the study cover? Sample attributes Hypotheses / research question Does training on interpersonal relations enhance business performance? Sample Trial population and sample selection Business owners who are clients of a microcredit institution. Participants are about 40 years olds, 58% are women and only 45% have completed high-school. The average business size is about two workers. Average monthly sales are about USD 625 and average monthly profits about USD 225, although 45% of the business owners report having experienced business losses over the previous six months. Businesses have been operating for an average of six years and a half. They operate in a wide range of sectors, from construction to textile through food services. Most are located in urban areas, and nearly all are formalised. Number of treatment groups Size of treatment groups Size of control group Unit of analysis Clustered? Yes No Cluster details Trial attributes Treatment description All partecipants received business-management skills training: a one-day training covering materials on financial literacy, record keeping, sales, and marketing. The second treatment group additionally received interpersonal skills training: one-day training covering materials about self-understanding and how to relate with others, as well as the relevance of interpersonal skills to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Rounds of data collection Baseline data collection and method Firms were identified from a SME census, the random sample was extracted among those who manifested interest in a business training program. Customers were identified by random spot-checks at our sample firms. Three customers were randomly selected to per firm and invited to participate in the survey. Data collection method and data collected Evaluation Outcome variables <p>Business performance of the firm and customer satisfaction.</p> Results <p>Business owners that were offered either version of the training show better marketing, customer care and business operations practices eight month after the training.</p> <p>Businesses receiving either training are 16% less likely to have lost clients in the past months, and eight months after the training have a higher number of customers.</p> <p>Business sales increase by 45% among those receiving either of the training versions within the eight following months.</p> <p>Average profits are not higher among those that receive any training than among those that don’t, although the former are 10% less likely to experience losses. </p> <p>The effects of the training are not significantly higher for those that receive the additional training day on interpersonal skills than for those that don't, despite the latter showing slightly better results in customer attention.</p> Intervention costs Participants were provided with food and refreshments during the training worth (USD $7 per person each day) and USD $5 per day for transportation and opportunity costs. Cost benefit ratio Reference Dammert, A., & Nansamba, A., 2019. Skills Training and Business Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from Liberia. Citation for use in academic references
