Data from Money4YOU’s international programme show an overwhelmingly positive response from participants and a high level of impact.
More than four in five past participants say their business venture is now progressing “well” or “very well,” after training events that significantly increased knowledge and confidence on five vital aspects of entrepreneurship and facilitated networking and partnerships amongst participants.
Data from a WCET (#WorldChangers Entrepreneurship Training) training event in Ghana in early 2023 show a significant majority of participants had never received training on the topics we cover, averaging less than 10% across each of our main topics (Business Development, Creativity and Innovation, Funding and Finance, Resilience and Wellbeing, and Transformational Leadership).
The events increased participants’ self-rated knowledge by 127% on average, and increased confidence by 68%, according to surveys we conducted directly before and after a training event in Ghana in 2023.
In four of the five training areas, learners’ knowledge increased to a greater extent than confidence. We expected this: in most educational settings, including our courses for non-profits, the confidence to apply knowledge only develops after learners have experienced real-world scenarios and have had the opportunity to deepen their understanding with repeated training events.
Our results underscore the importance of repeated engagement with learners, something we actively prioritise with WhatsApp groups, repeated training events with local partners, and Train The Trainer events to teach members of local groups to deliver the training, where funding permits.
During training events in 2023, participants explored partnership opportunities among themselves and leveraged the connections they made to market their products to fellow participants. A small number of participants owned existing small businesses, while a few others transformed their business ideas into tangible projects by the end of the programme.
Aikins, who participated in the Ghana training event, said: “The training offers valuable education on starting one’s own business, emphasising the notion that significant capital is not necessarily required to begin. It emphasises the potential to start with modest financial resources and provides guidance on effectively utilising available funds.”
Prince Akuffo, who participated via Ntentan Projects in Ghana in early 2023, said: “These ideas have not been widely shared or made available through my institutionalised channels. The opportunity to explore them in a structured manner is not commonly provided. I am deeply appreciative of my own efforts and the organisers for enabling me to access and benefit from this opportunity.”
Unmet needs
Many of our local partners’ funds are too limited to host training events at the scale and frequency they, and we, would like.
With more funding, we would also be able to review participants’ business and marketing plans, a common request following training.
Nevertheless, the majority by far (87%) of past participants said their business was developing ‘Very well’ or ‘Well’ in response to a survey with 66 respondents. 73% said they had identified new sources of funding since the training event.
92% of respondents said they had been successful in applying creativity and innovation in their businesses and 53% said they were comfortable applying the ‘transformational’ style of leadership, which is one of the training topics.
We are encouraged to see that almost all participants had put resilience and wellbeing strategies into practice to improve their resilience.
