The SME toolkit is a resource document designed by Mercy Corps under the Social Business Grant Program to guide businesses at various stages of business development; from startup to growth strategies and Human Resources.
The primary intended users of this toolkit are locally-owned SMEs, entrepreneur support organizations, and non-bank financial institutions. The toolkit provides basic templates and clear instructions on fundamental business functions such as: business planning, managing finances, managing operations, developing marketing plans, HR management, etc.
The Toolkit was developed in three stages: a local independent consultant was hired through a competitive vetting process. The consultant then conducted several qualitative and quantitative research to improve the understanding of acute information gaps in SME toolkits in other countries, local regulatory and compliance laws related to registering a business, paying taxes, labor laws, and National Social Security Corporation (NASSCORP) requirements as well as challenges faced by existing businesses. The third and final step was validation workshops in Montserrado, Bong and Nimba Counties to verify that all the information collected during the development process were captured in the final toolkit.
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