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Six Business Plan Pitfalls to Avoid When Approaching Funders: Lessons from Healthcare Enterprises in Emerging Markets
Having a good business plan is a key part of building credibility with funders. But despite its importance to an enterprise’s success, many entrepreneurs in emerging markets struggle to develop a strong business plan that instills confidence among potential funders. Paul Clyde and Ioan Cleaton-Jones at the William Davidson Institute discuss six common business plan mistakes that can undermine an entrepreneur's prospects with funders, based on their work supporting the development of business plans for hundreds of healthcare enterprises in various emerging markets.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
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Seven Keys to Successful Business Mentorship Programs: How Entrepreneur Support Organizations Can Maximize Their Impact
Building a business can be exciting and rewarding, but it also requires personal sacrifices that can put both an entrepreneur's well-being and their enterprise’s success in jeopardy. As Amy Gillett and Kristin Babbie Kelterborn at the William Davidson Institute explain, mentors can play a key role in helping entrepreneurs deal with these unique difficulties. They share seven insights that can help entrepreneur support organizations like accelerators, incubators and investment companies implement successful business mentorship programs.
- Categories
- Education
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Bringing a Gender Lens to Technical Assistance: New Research Reveals the Benefits and Costs of Gender-Smart TA to SMEs and Investors
There’s growing momentum behind gender lens strategies in impact investing. But according to Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi at the William Davidson Institute and Lisa Willems and Ladé Araba at the AlphaMundi Foundation, investors tend to apply a gender lens to their investing and pipeline development activities – but not to technical assistance and other types of post-investment support. They share findings from a recent study from the Gender-Smart Enterprise Assistance Research Coalition (G-SEARCh) consortium, which explores the business case for gender-smart technical assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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WDI Partners with FSB in Vietnam to Provide Management Training
William Davidson Institute (WDI) is partnering with the FPT School of Business & Technology (FSB) to provide management training in Vietnam.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- South Asia
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Innovations in E-Mobility: An Electric Vehicle Startup Seeks to Gain Traction in Mexico
Mexico City is the fifth most populated city in the world – and the most congested city in North America. Over the years, traffic and pollution levels have spurred government efforts to improve mobility in the city. But momentum is also building in the private sector, as illustrated by the startup Zacua, Mexico's first electric vehicle brand. Diana Páez at the William Davidson Institute spoke with Nazareth Black, Zacua’s CEO and a prominent e-Mobility advocate, to learn more about the company’s efforts to accelerate the adoption of e-Mobility solutions in the country.
- Categories
- Energy, Technology, Transportation
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The Path Toward Commercialization: How Research Can Generate Business Opportunities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Research universities and labs are important engines of innovation that play a vital role in global business development – and commercializing these innovations can deliver real-world impact. But according to Dana Gorodetsky and Sachin Nijhawan at the William Davidson Institute, there's a lack of expertise and resources related to the commercialization of research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). They explore the benefits of commercialization for researchers, institutions and entrepreneurs, and offer four key lessons for commercializing research in LMICs.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
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Four Insights for Better Measurement: What Businesses Can Learn from the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
In the public and nonprofit sectors, comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches are increasingly common – but many small and growing businesses (SGBs) lack the time and resources for these practices. Heather Esper, director of the Performance Measurement and Improvement team at the William Davidson Institute, shares four key data collection and measurement insights from the public and nonprofit worlds that businesses — particularly SGBs — can leverage to improve their decision-making and maximize the social and financial value of their data.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Monitoring and Evaluation in E-Learning: Five M&E Practices to Measure and Boost the Impact of Online Education Programs
Educational institutions, businesses, nonprofits and other organizations have turned to e-learning during the COVID-19 crisis, and these approaches are likely to remain prevalent in a post-pandemic world. According to Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi of the William Davidson Institute and Salma Elbeblawi of Soliya, virtual exchange is an area of particular interest and innovation within the broader online education space. They share five key monitoring and evaluation insights that can strengthen these programs in real time – and that can be applied to a variety of e-learning programs.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Technology
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