Shelley Stinson

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MICROENTERPRISE
Alex Clothier
Mondy Jamshidi
Shelley Stinson
Kalamazoo College 11/17/05
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Microenterprise
What is Microenterprise?
A business with five or less employees, which
requires 35,000 or less in start up capital, and
which does not have access to the traditional
commercial banking sector
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Microenterprise

• Microenterprise Programs Consist of
• Training and Technical Assistance
• Credit and Access to Credit
• Access to Markets (social network)
• Economic Literacy and Asset Development

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http//www.microenterpriseworks.org/
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Microenterprise

• Who can utilize the programs?
• Welfare recipients
• Minorities
• Women
• the Working Poor
• Young people
• Refugees
• Homeless individuals

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Microenterprise

• How do entrepreneurs benefit?
• Builds economic assets, as well as human assets
• Learn the skills they want/need to learn
• Choice of work
• Control over hours
• Work from home
• Can still receive government help

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Common Businesses
Microenterprise

• Service
• Repair services
• Cleaning services
• Environmental products and services
• Computer technology
• Childcare

• Products
• Specialty foods
• Jewelry
• Arts and crafts
• Gifts
• Clothing and textiles

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Microenterprise

• Reasons To Support Microenterprise
• Supported by both sides
• Great for people with potential who do not have
  the education necessary
• Small business 53
• Present all over the world
• Bangladesh's Grameen Bank
• Acción International

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Microenterprise

• Does it work?
• Income gains for 72 of the poor
  microentrepreneurs participating in the programs
  were large enough for more than half of the
  programs low-income participants to move out of
  poverty p.139
• 2 million microenterprises today
• What self-employment has brought millions of
  other Americans stability, security, a buffer
  when things go wrong, a nest egg for the future.
  p.150

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Resources

• Owning Up by Michelle Miller-Adams
• ISED Microenterprise Training Curriculum Ed.
  Roxanna Sieber
• http//accion.org/
• http//accionusa.org/
• http//www.grameen-info.org/
• http//www.microenterpriseworks.org/
• http//www.fieldus.org/home/index.html
• http//www.cfed.org/

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Segue Slide

• Okely-Dokely-Dootime for a clip show