Useful Toolkit for Small & Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs)

I just stumbled upon the SME Toolkit for South Africa, a very thorough and useful tool for businesses in not only South Africa, but any developing (or that matter, developed) market. Put together by the IFC and IBM, it offers loads of resources and tools to address accounting and finance, business planning, human resources, legal and insurance, marketing and sales, operations, and technology needs.

Among the specially designed free tools are:

• an online calculator that helps small businesses determine their readiness for financing

• free software to build a web site

• fee business forms used for employee performance evaluations

• community tools such as online conferencing, blog capability, group calendars

• survey and quiz builders to help small businesses make decisions, and

• a multilingual business directory to help small businesses link locally, regionally and globally

There are links to many other countries and regions and while the basic information stays the same the case studies and local resources change making it a very functional tool.

My friends at MBAs Without Borders could use this tool as part of their training when working with their clients which would really help bring many of the concepts to life--I'll have to let them know!