Microenterprise Standards and Guide

This ‘Microenterprise Standards and Guide (Guide) has the following four objectives:

• To ensure that entrepreneurs have access to, and information about, high quality microenterprise development services (MDS),
• To increase the capacity of MDS providers to provide quality services through a coherent framework,
• To provide recognition for those that meet quality standards,
• To provide funders with an effective mechanism for identifying high quality MDS providers.

The Guide was the result of practitioners and stakeholders realization of the increasing need for creating standards for organizations providing MDS. The ‘Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO) prepared the Guide using an interactive process. The Guide contains two broad categories of standards: practice standards and numerical standards.Practice standards represent ideal actions and conduct that are necessary for the effective operation of a microenterprise development program. They comprise:

• Organizational Development Standards that address:
  • Governance,
  • Human resources,
  • Monitoring and evaluation,
  • Financial management and accountability,
  • Fundraising,
  • Communications and marketing,
  • Technology,
  • Program design.
• Program Standards that address lending, training, consulting, coaching and mentoring programs.

Numerical standards are based on an analysis of performance data from organizations participating in “Micro Test.” They focus on:

• Number and types of clients served,
• Portfolio quality,
• Operational cost efficiency,
• Business plan completion rates,
• Training completion rates.

The guide concludes by pointing out ways to move forward.