 The last few weeks saw me get involved with the Small and Medium Establishments in the Coir sector in Kerala. Cluster Pulse, a nodal agency funded by a consortium of international and national financial institutions, is spearheading the efforts to bringing in professionalism, business acumen, marketing savvy, structured financing, and efficient production practices into the coir business. They act as the via-media between the entrepreneurs and the vendors for a variety services. There are one-to-one interface sessions and knowledge upgradation through mass contact. Cluster Pulse provide consultancy services, arranges funding through financial institutions and they subsidise developmental activities such as training. They also fund technology upgradation through subsidies and R & D support.
But who is biting?
The Coir Industry in Kerala is centred at Alleppey, situated some 60 km from Cochin, which is the Commercial Hub and the port through which the produce reach the world.
The Malayali (the people from Kerala are called that because they speak Malayalam) is known the world over because he has taken on jobs or migrated to practically every corner of the planet. I guess the lack of space and opportunities in his homeland has made him spread his wings and seek work elsewhere. A popular joke doing the rounds is that when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon he met a malayali who was running a tea-shop there – such is their quickness in sensing an opportunity. But you notice that it is only a tea – shop and not a restaurant or a mall or a factory. Therein lies the problem – the malayali is a marginal player, and not one in the centre of the circle. Big seems bad for the malayali.
 THERE is increasing fear that the high default rate among fund borrowers from the microfinance banks may soon ruin the nascent banking institutions, The Guardian investigation has revealed.
High interest charged by the microfinance banks has been discovered to be the reason behind the alarming default. A microfinance loan is a facility granted by a microfinance bank to an individual or a group of borrowers, whose principal source of income is derived from business activities involving the production or sale of goods and services.
The maximum principal amount stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines that a microfinance bank can grant to a client is N500,000 and this may be reviewed from time to time by the apex bank.
By practice, a microfinance loan is granted to the customers of microfinance banks, such as peasant farmers, artisans, fishermen, women, senior citizens and non-salaried workers in the formal and informal sectors. The loans are usually unsecured, but typically granted on the basis of the applicant's character and the combined cash flow of the business and household.
Any economic system must be aimed at liberating all the poor from the prison of poverty and should maximize human welfare. Second, it must have institutions that rest upon, and nourish, voluntary cooperation through cost effective, and timely deliverance of goods and services third; it must respect the human person as the originating source of human action. Fourth, it must provide the necessary (but not sufficient) cause for the polity, however democracy need not always produce good governances, whose best approximation in history so far is democracy under the rule of law. Fifth, it must take realistic precautions against the besetting economic sins of all eras and times, but particularly its own. Sixth, it must be based upon the presupposition that any democratic country, the decentralized local governance need democratic units and grassroots organisations but now the bureaucracy is equated with government and people see themselves as subjects rather then as partners This was one reason. Why poverty alleviation projects have suffered in giving out the results, poor delivery of service for the past over 60 years resulted Private-public- civil society participation in order to develop delivery system at root level. The expectation of people is “ RIGHT NOW –RIGHT HERE “ for any product and service. Any system/ mechanism should cater needs and demands, networking through MSME if developed with extension service, it is sure of catering the demands/Expectations of the people Read More
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 The Greatest Obstacle in Your Business Now!
Many obstacles can hold our progress in business and life. They range from lack of capital, lack of ideas or knowledge of what to do and to lack of a mentor. Some find faults with their government, the economic system and regulatory environment for their plight. Whereas some others, blame the external economic environment, just for instance ongoing recession!
Whatever you think or believe as the obstacle to success, the truth remain the truth that all these and other things that one think were not obstacle, rather they were means for you to succeed and thrive.The only and the greatest obstacle is man himself. That is, you or I is the greatest obstacle. Nobody or anything can hinder you to succeed in life in as much you did not hinder yourself.
There are 3 components that steal any man’s success in life. All these components were made, build and develop be each man. Until you and I kill and overcome these components, there is no way to succeed and thirve in any business that we do.
Does mentoring make good business sense?
 It can be lonely at the top and running your own business is no exception. Being your own boss often involves making tough decisions without anyone to turn to for advice or support.
A good business mentor can help bridge the gap providing expert guidance and an invaluable sounding board that can make the difference between business success and failure.
But what is mentoring and how can it help SME owners and managers?
In a nutshell, mentoring is a one-to-one relationship which helps entrepreneurs to learn and develop their business. It provides a useful second opinion offering constructive, impartial feedback and a different perspective on issues that arise within the business.
Well-mentored individuals have more confidence in their business skills, decision-making and problem solving abilities and are often happier, more driven and productive as a result.
 Many good things have been written and said about the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, and much more will be said and written about her. One of the legacies of President Cory is that she always had the plight of the poor in mind. She fought not only for freedom from tyranny and dictatorship but also freedom from poverty.
In 2006, on the eve of the 20th Anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution, she founded the PinoyME Foundation, a consortium of businesses, civil society organizations, microfinance institutions (MFIs), academe, and government agencies that seeks to provide P5 billion to five million poor Filipinos within five years (5-5-5) through microfinance. Philippine Business for Social Progress, through its Chairman Manuel Pangilinan, is one of its founding members.
A partnership between PBSP and PinoyME was sealed paving the way for PBSP’s foray into microfinance. With this agreement, PBSP through its Small and Medium Enterprise Credit (SMEC) program, extended a credit line of up to P250 million to PinoyME. In turn, PinoyME lends the money to its partner MFIs that need additional capital to reach more poor households. To date, PBSP-SMEC has disbursed P28 million to PinoyME, which is expected to benefit 2,866 poor households that are engaged in livelihood or income-generating activities.
Introduction
Considering the size of women population in the world, and recognising that enough has not been done to chanalise the ‘women power’, countries around the world are looking at ways and means to empower them. India is no exception to this. Empowering women does not mean merely ensuring jobs and a place in political system for a few of them, though this is a welcome step, but going beyond this. It is the uneducated/undereducated, poor and deprived women who really need empowerment. Their number is quite large and a majority of persons below the poverty line are apparently women. Effective programmes need to be evolved to tackle the issue. Economic improvement of women population not only would help the family but also the economy at large. Encouraging women to become micro and small entrepreneurs (MSEs) can to a considerable extent address the issue.
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