Trade for Development Centre is a programme of Enabel, the Belgian development agency.
Backed by our long experience in financing producers’ organisations, we realised that they often had a lot of potential, but lacked knowledge in marketing, business management and sustainability. For example, they had little information about their competitors, and were not very familiar with sales techniques, cost calculations, net profit margins, sustainability and so on. In other words, their potential remained untapped. At TDC, we believe these skills can be acquired. This is why we created a unique, participative and tailor-made coaching track.
This is how TDC positioned itself in a very important area: building capacities of African SMEs in terms of sustainability and decent work (climate resilience, respect for human rights, consideration of gender aspects, etc.), management (financial, organisational, governance) and marketing (positioning, market access, communication, sales).
The approach is as follows:
Our aim is to offer producers’ cooperatives and enterprises the opportunity to take charge of their own development, by providing them with the means, knowledge and skills so that they can find solutions, develop strategies, innovate and undertake business.
The main aim of the support is to increase sales and incomes by sustainably strengthening the organisation, improving management and improving access to markets.
We are convinced that this is the only way for MSMEs to achieve sustainable growth. Coaching is delivered on-site, at the premises of the organisation, by specialists in marketing, financial and business management, and sustainability. The key consideration is to act in the best interests of MSMEs. The support provided focuses on preparing the organisation to conquer its target markets.
This training consists of carrying out an initial analysis of the organisation, focusing on market aspects (SWOT analysis, market analysis, etc.), financial aspects (cost calculations, reading the accounts, etc.), organisational aspects (HR, governance, etc.) and sustainability and decent work aspects (human rights, environment, etc.), with the aim of providing the organisation with relevant information that will be of direct use to it and which will serve to strengthen the structure (decision-making support and better knowledge of the structure and the context in which it operates).
At the end of this preliminary training, some organisations will benefit during 3 years from one or several coaching tracks among the 3 following ones:
The sustainability coaching will enable organisations to integrate environmental sustainability and decent work challenges into the day-to-day management of their organisation. Coaching will provide examples of good practice and tools for implementation (or improvement). Depending on needs, the following (non-exhaustive) elements will be addressed (or implemented): the use of tools for identifying, monitoring and remedying the main human rights, equality and environmental risks and problems associated with the organisation and its production (complaints mechanism, traceability, geolocation of plots, etc.); the promotion of gender certifications (gender equality seal, gender equity measure); the inclusion of female entrepreneurship; voluntary standards and sustainable certifications in line with European regulations; the development of data collection and reporting tools in line with European requirements.
The objective is to strengthen organisational and financial management skills, so that organisations acquire the knowledge and tools they need to better manage their day-to-day operations and finances. Coaching covers areas such as drawing up/improving a business plan, financial management, budget forecasting, the organisation’s financing and investment policy, cash and stock management, risk analysis/monitoring, assessing the profitability of a project, human resources management, etc.
The goal of marketing coaching is to strengthen commercial management skills, so that organisations have the knowledge and tools they need to better access markets. This generally involves strategic marketing (marketing plan, market positioning, etc.) and operational marketing (developing communication tools, facilitating prospecting for new customers, negotiation and sales skills, etc.).
The TDC targets organisations in the following countries and sectors:
Produced when Enabel was still known as the “Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC)”, this video showcases marketing coaching with testimonials from organisations that have benefited from its support, highlighting the methodology used and the achievements obtained through this coaching.
The film crew followed 3 cocoa cooperatives (ECAM, ECAMOM and Necayoo) during the latest marketing coaching sessions provided by the TDC.
In this video report, the cooperatives explain how they experienced the coaching programme, what it brought them, particularly in terms of capacity building, the difficulties they encountered and how they see the future.
