A Study on Private Providers of Business Development Services for Small and Microenterprises in Lima

Transcripción

1 A Study on Private Providers of Business Development Services for Small and Microenterprises in Lima Gerardo Pejerrey Mario Tueros 3 rd. Revision, September 2,000 ILO IFP SEED, Geneva/ ILO Lima MDT

2 Table of Contents SUMMARY... III I. INTRODUCTION THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICE MARKET IN LIMA...2 II. STUDY PURPOSE...2 III. METHODOLOGY...2 IV. 3.1 THE SAMPLE THE QUESTIONNAIRE...4 HOW DO THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES OPERATE? DESIGN SERVICES DECORATION SERVICES (MERCHANDISING) TRAINING SERVICES TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES LEGAL COUNSELING SERVICES INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY SERVICES ACCOUNTING ASSESSMENT SERVICES...18 V. BDS PROVIDER PROFILES GENDER, ORIGIN, FORMATION AND EXPERIENCE MARKET ACCESS BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION RESULTS OBTAINED IN NEEDS PERCEIVED TO IMPROVE SERVICES...31 VI. SOCIAL AND HUMAN CAPITAL OF THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES ADDITIONAL FORMATION AND EXPERIENCE OF THE SERVICE PROVIDER THE SERVICE PERSONNEL: PREVIOUS OCCUPATIONS AND SPECIALTIES EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: OWNERS AND WORKERS HUMAN CAPITAL AMONG THE BDS PROVIDERS SOCIAL CAPITAL...36 VII. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS...38 ii

3 SUMMARY The present is an exploratory study containing primary data about a sample group of private Business Development Services (BDS) providers who pref erably of f er their services to small and microenterprises (SMEs) in Metropolitan Lima. These providers were intentionally selected based on information from their clients, notices and bulletin boards in their locals or information obtained from promoting institutions. A variety of BDS are offered to the SMEs. One can mention those aimed towards increasing the aggregated value of the products; those offering services to help the SMEs meet legal and accounting norms; those offering supplies, equipment and machines; those offering technical repair and maintenance; those helping sustain productive process efficiency; etc. The study is concentrated on those offering services dealing with augmenting aggregate value, increasing production and improving business management although those offering services helping the business to meet legal and accounting laws were also included. MARKET ACCESS There are two basic ways in which the BDS become known in the Lima market: one is through client recommendation and the other is through printed propaganda (including the telephone book). Client recommendation especially works for those offering services in the following areas: design, decoration, technical assistance, and legal and accounting assessment. Those using printed propaganda are usually offering services regarding training, information and publicity. The majority of the BDS providers believe that external forces are the main obstacles to offering good service. Among the negative factors identified by them are unfair competition, client idiosyncrasy, and local regulations. THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BDS BUSINESSES As far as the size of the businesses, the largest ones are those that offer training services. These have an average of 10 workers. The smallest are those offering Information and Publicity services with an average of two workers. The tendency is to hire temporary help when more workers are needed. There are differences in regards to the assets of the business. Those offering Design, Training, Technical Assistance and Information and Publicity have the most assets whereas those offering Accounting Assessment have the least amount of assets. The costs of the services offered by the providers is based on the fixed and variable costs of the services provided. This is true for those offering services regarding Design, Decoration, Training and Information and Publicity. Those offering Counsel used the rates set by the guild and those offering Technical Assistance use the iii

4 competency itself as a guideline, a fact which often brings the rates down. Most of the businesses will offer credit but those providing Information and Publicity services prefer cash. The most frequent credit method is that of installment payments over a short period of time. The usual method is to receive the first payment upon beginning the task and the final payment upon finishing it. In respect to competition in 1999, most of those interviewed said that the competition was tough and that it was due to an excess of providers or to prices which were too low. This competition basically came from small businesses, especially those offering Design, Training, Information and Publicity and Accounting Assessment services. The NGOs, service centers and public institutions are not considered as competition. RESULTS OBTAINED IN 1999 With the exception of Decoration which seems to have had the largest number of steady clients, the providers offering Design, Training and Technical Assistance have the most clients including steady and temporary clients. Those offering Counseling, Accounting Assessment and Information and Publicity services had the least amount of clients. As for income in 1999, the highest average income was obtained by those offering training service (US$ 69,105), followed by Design (US$ 39,713), Counseling (US$35,676) and Decoration (US$ 35,126). The least favored were Technical Assistance and Accounting Assessment. BDS PROVIDER PROFILE Most of the providers are men, especially in the Accounting Assessment, Technical Assistance, Information and Publicity services. There are also women providers, but in a smaller proportion, in the Design, Training and Counseling services. The majority of the providers were born in Lima, especially those offering Accounting Assessment and Information and Publicity services. As for age, the highest percentage of the providers are between 35 and 39 years of age. However, in Training and Technical Assistance, the providers are usually more than 50 years old. The under 35 age group is basically involved in Information and Publicity services where there are even some providers who are less than 20 years old. In regards to educational level, 60% of the providers went to university, 25% went to a vocational training center and 15% have only a high school education. The Accounting Assessment, Counseling, Training and Design services are offered by those with university or vocational studies. Decoration, Information and Publicity as well as Technical Assistance have the smallest percentage of iv

5 graduates. Fifty-six percent of those who went to university have received a degree. The degrees of the providers interviewed were obtained in careers relating to business (administration, accounting, engineering, law, education, economy or psychology). Those offering Technical Assistance also have specialized training certificates obtained from studies in vocational institutions or from short courses. Not all of those that offer Counseling are lawyers. Those offering Accounting Assessment have degrees although there are some that have studied business administration or have certificates from seminars and short courses. Those offering Training services are generally teachers, engineers or administrators. Before dedicating themselves to offering BDS, those interviewed did assessment or training work. They were drawn to the business by their desire to be independent. In Information and Decoration they began with a small amount of capital. Another way of beginning the business was by association with friends or colleagues as has been the case of some designers, publicists, and accounting advisors. In Technical Assistance some of the providers began in the family business. However these last are the minority. REQUIREMENTS TO BE ABLE TO IMPROVE THE SERVICES The majority of the providers interviewed do not believe that they need help meeting the needs involved in improving their services. Those that feel that they need help (less than 50%) were willing to receive training in order to improve their products. The exception was Counseling where help for carrying out management was demanded. As for Information, they need to know more about markets and legal, labor, and tributary regulations, most especially those offering Counseling and Accounting Assessment services. Those offering Design services need to know more about technology. THE QUALIFICATIONS OF THE BDS PROVIDERS In addition to their basic educational formation, the providers have assisted a variety of courses. All of them preferred courses complementing their field. Those in Design have taken computer, marketing and administration courses. Decoration providers were drawn to sales, computer and language courses. Courses about taxation, auditing and business management were demanded by those involved in Accounting Assessment. Course length varied but was generally from 1 to 6 weeks. However, the Technical Assistance providers tended to take longer courses (7 months or more) as did the Information and Publicity providers. The institutions preferred for these additional courses were higher learning institutes followed by private educational centers and finally the universities. They basically took courses during the 90s. The Inf ormation and Publicity providers started taking courses in the mid- 80s and more frequently in the 90s. The Technical Assistance and v

6 Training providers have assisted courses more regularly than the other areas. BUSINESS PERSONNEL: OCCUPATION AND EXPERIENCE In general, the workers experience has been in the same field as the business. The Design and Decoration services have among their employees people who previously did basically manual labor. The Technical Assistance Providers have been assistants or aides. The Training and Accounting Assessment Providers have previously worked as professionals. EMPLOYMENT SECURITY BENEFITS: OW NERS AND W ORKERS In general the BDS business owners do not have basic employment security benefits such as medical insurance or pension plans. Very few of them take vacations and if they do these are generally less than the one month period established by law. Almost no-one said that they assigned themselves the bonuses usually given on Christmas and Independence Day. As f or the workers, less than onethird have medical insurance, pension benefits, or vacation (usually incomplete). SOCIAL AND HUMAN CAPITAL OF THE BDS PROVIDERS A comparative analysis of the Human Capital Index shows that the Decoration and Information and Publicity service providers have significantly lower human capital levels than do the providers of Training, Accounting Assessment and Counseling services. The Accounting Assessment, Counseling and Training providers are members of professional guilds. The last two have more social capital levels than the Design, Decoration and Technical Assistance providers. Half of the providers interviewed participate regularly in meetings held by the guilds and the rest do so occasionally. This membership and participation was begun during the last five years. These institutions offer them such services as supplies, technology, human resources, and accounting, legal and business management assessment as well as technical, productive and design assistance. vi

7 INTRODUCTION The conception of the development of the business development services or non-financed services for small business as an alternative to traditional forms of support has gone through several different stages. From a vision based on the need for subsidies for its implementation which itself was based on different variations of the premise that the micro-enterprise technical services were a public good, and that it was therefore impossible to subject them to a business transaction 1 -, it has begun to be looked at from the perspective of a market activity in order to promote its efficient implementation 2. This first debate is still going on in many areas of the ever more complex field of micro-enterprise development support. In Latin America, however, the debate leans towards how to achieve financial and institutional sustainability for the development of the service in question. The prevailing idea among the donors and operators in this area of business promotion in Latin America is that the non-finance services should be concentrated in service centers which offer those services that meet the needs of the business environment in which they are located. However, one question that is still to be answered is what type of institution the service center should be. The most widely extended form of service center is the NGO, that is to say, a private enterprise that has a staff of consultants and advisors who are specialized in the areas in which the small enterprises need help. The payroll expenses of the NGO usually correspond to those of the formal market for professional services since NGOs usually depend on international cooperation institutions for the resources needed to implement their programs and these in turn demand administrative transparency in accordance with the law from the NGOs. This method of operation usually means that the fees for professional consultations or advice are too expensive for the small businessmen. This places a severe limitation on the possibility for expanding the services for the SMEs and for extending the coverage of these programs. Thus the idea of promoting a self-sustainable service market for the BDSs is ever more popular. This idea 3 insists on the need for exploring in detail the professional supply of the BDS in a particular market in order to later address those providers that work outside the institutional circuit. The premise is that it will always be possible to find a segment of private providers, i.e. professionals that offer their services directly to small businesses without any other labor connection than the demand for their service, that is to say the small businessmen who they assist. These providers usually work alone or in small groups and unlike the institutional provider connected with an NGO or a government support institution, their work is not subsidized in any way. This vision of business development service markets also emphasizes the adequate location of the direct providers in order to determine the orientation of and the preferences of the demand for sustainable 1 See Távara (1996) 2 See Lara Goldmark (1996, 1997) and the Donors Committee about the Development of Small Businesses (1997) 3 Detailed for example in Tanburn and others (1999) 1

8 services. Since the family income of these providers is directly connected with the quality and relevance of the services they offer, they are quicker to perceive the changes in their market than are the institutional providers. The private providers use this information to design new products which satisfy the specific demands of small business for BDSs in a specific environment. The compromise of the institutional providers with their institutional products could not allow them to clearly appreciate the impact of their products on their target population. 1.1 The business development service market in Lima The BDS field has received systematic attention in Peru, where some important studies have been undertaken to set the points of the agenda for this business development area. Some general contributions have been made such as those done by Távara (1996) and by Coronel Zegarra ( ), who have tried to theoretically organize the different BDS conceptions and practices in the country. Likewise, empirical studies of the BDS demand (Deside-Swisscontact, 1998, 1999, 2000) and the institutional supply (Gutiérrez, 1999) have been made thus helping identify the major actors in this SME development promotion area. II. STUDY PURPOSE Despite the potential of the direct BDS service providers to more realistically oriented market development, it should be pointed out that there is very little information available about its characteristics. Systematic studies of this professional service area are needed in order for the donors and national organizations involved to better guided policies towards this type of services for the SMEs. The present study attempts to give a preliminary exploratory vision of the general characteristics of the businesses and people who supply these services directly and of how those businesses adapt to the demands of the small enterprises. The conclusions proposed in this study make it possible to glimpse the basic structure of a policy promoting services for the SMEs that takes into account the direct demands of the target groups and offers services adapted to the needs of the businessmen at a reasonable cost. III. METHODOLOGY The present exploratory descriptive study is based on data obtained from a sample of BDS providers for SMEs in Metropolitan Lima. This sample has been drawn by selection methods due to the unavailability of an exhaustive sampling frame about independent BDS providers who invest their own capital, do not receive national or international subsidies and who are subject to open market laws in their professional performance. 2

9 A poll was taken of the providers who were directly identified by the services they offer. This alternative was preferred over that of identifying them through their micro-enterprise clients due to the excessive cost of the latter alternative, and to the fact that the small business service market has already shown some relative growth in Lima, making it possible to easily locate both the institutional and the private service providers. The most important reason, however, is that the DESIDE-Swisscontact studies (1998, 1999, 2000) of three sectors of the small business area in Lima in order to classify the demand for BDS has produced ample information about this aspect. Likewise, a homogeneous questionnaire for each provider was used in order to carry out a basic quantitative analysis of the provider population and to collect ethnographic information that would also permit a certain degree of qualitative analysis. Since this is an initial study the sample identification matrix consisted of two simple variables: the field of activity that the provider was involved in, and the type of service offered to the enterprises. Nonetheless, other classification alternatives were considered, alternatives such as the dimensions of BDS delivery modes and client business activity, proposed by Goldmark (1996). The latter were not used because it was decided that they were better adapted to institutional sample subjects and not to the individual providers that made up the majority of the study sample. As for the dimension of the client business activity, this would have required an abstract elaboration of the type of service offered by the provider and was deemed unnecessary. 3.1 The Sample There are a variety of BDS in the Lima market: those that offer assessment for increasing the aggregated value of finished products; those that supply information and adjust the accounting books of the enterprises so that these meet the legal and accounting standards demanded by the tax authority (SUNAT), the municipality, the ministries, employment protection regulations, etc.; those that supply raw materials, equipment and machinery for the production process and which generally include maintenance, those that improve plant production processes; those that provide publicity and diffusion in mass media; and, those that offer real-time information to increase the efficiency of urban passenger transport. Attention was placed on the providers of services aimed towards improve product quality, productive processes and business management. After analyzing the types of services offered, these were grouped in the following categories: Design, Decoration (merchandising), Training, Technical Assistance, Counseling, Information and Publicity, Accounting Assessment. The study has not covered those supplying raw materials (cloth, wood, leather, accessories, etc.) because these are almost always large companies whose major clients are medium and large businesses, even though they do offer their services to the SMEs. Due to the same 3

10 criteria, the providers involved in the sale of machinery and equipment were also not included in the study. The sample BDS were initially located in the areas of the city where the most well-known clusters of micro-enterprises are found. In Lima, the grouping of micro-enterprises by specialty has been extensive. The agglomerations chosen were those with the highest degree of specialization and which due to this had the largest number of productive services. The zones chosen were: Jr. Gamarra in the district of La Victoria for clothing production SMEs, Villa El Salvador for carpentry, Av. Caquetá in Cercado de Lima (Downtown Lima) for shoe production, and Comas for services offered to small traders. Other areas were also searched for BDS providers by looking for signs on their business locales or through references from their clients. The only requirement for being included in the sample was that the company offer BDS services to SMEs. The sample was intentionally selected instead of being randomly selected. Although the number or questionnaires given was greater, 130 BDS providers were selected for the sample. Those chosen preferably had a clientele composed of small and micro-enterprises. This process in itself gave the first results of the study. It was soon found that there are BDS providers for the large, medium and small businesses but that it was difficult to find BDS providers dedicated exclusively to SMEs. The sample is composed as follows: Table Nº 1. Sample by Economic Sectors and BDS supplied Sectors Total Design Decora tion Training Number Cases Services Offered Technical Assistance Advise Information Publicity Accounting Total Carpentry Shoe-making Metal works Garments Traders Restaurant/Hotel Transport The Questionnaire The questionnaire contains questions in the following five categories (see Appendix 1 2): i.) Organization of the Service (market access, service management, relationship with other providers), ii.) Market (competition, clients, needs, other services), iii.) Business data (assets, income, workers, employment benefits ), iv.) Knowledge and Experience (studies and previous experience of the owners and workers), v.) Personal Information (place of birth, age, address, position, interview 4

11 area). The questionnaires were filled in during 30-minute interviews done by five people: 3 professionals and 2 students in their final year of social and administrative science studies. The field work took place between December 10 and 30, Some providers refused to answer the questionnaire saying that they did not have the time or because of their disappointment in never having received the results of other studies in which they had collaborated. The data collected was analyzed qualitatively (since biographical information was collected about each interviewee) and quantitatively. This report attempts to present the appropriate combination of both types of information collected. IV. HOW DO THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES OPERATE? Design Services a. What does the service consist of and what do the private providers offer? The service includes the preparation of and presentation of drawings, plans, samples, types of material, costs and instructions for elaborating new products. The study found that the designers working with the SMEs in the selected sub-sectors are dedicated to making design proposals for furniture, shoe styles, and fashion designs, patterns, cutting and fitting for clothing makers. b. How do they obtain market access? There are three methods that the design service providers use to enter the SME market: client recommendation (32.3%), directly by looking for their own new clients (29%) and ads in magazines, newspapers and pamphlets (29%). Only 10% of the providers use posters or billboards. Radio, internet and strategic location (where the demand exists) are not used. (See Table 10 in the Appendix 1). It would seem that ads in magazines, newspapers or on the radio are limited to small spaces or are infrequent because the amount invested in this type of publicity does not exceed $50 for 69.2% whereas the rest spend between $100 and $250 (See Table 11 in the Appendix 1). A high percentage (53.8%) of the interviewees said that their clients look for quality and service guarantee before easy payment terms, However, 26.9% place emphasis on the provider himself, that is on his responsibility, honesty, fulfillment and ability to inspire confidence. Barely 11.5% like to have more personalized treatment when there are other components involved in the business relationship (friendship, kinship, common origin, etc.) (See Table 12 in the Appendix 1). 4 For the effects of this report, the rate of exchange for the time period covered by the poll was S/ per US dollar. 5

12 In regards to product quality, we have the testimony of a shoe last (block) provider: Mr. Luis Palomino worked 6 months as a helper in a shoe last production workshop. The economic crisis in the early 90s forced him to set up a small workshop in his home and work informally. He began with a sander and a few tools valued at US$ 200. Mr. Palomino knew that he had to overcome two obstacles to gain a market for his products: the economic crisis affecting the Peruvian family income, and the fact that his products were too expensive for the available market. To overcome these obstacles, he decided to buy lasts (blocks) that were used and out of fashion and which had been discarded by the factories. He was able to buy them at a good price and dedicated himself to altering them (cutting the points and sanding them) to obtain a new model. With time, he has become one of the few shoe last transformers to be well-known and sought out by clients because his prices are very competitive, because his models are still accepted by certain segments of the model, and because he is very friendly to his clients. The designers say that they face three types of obstacles to offering their services: lack of capital (36.8%), the fact that the clients do not give their work its real value (15.8%) and excessive competition for finding a market for their services (10.5%). (See Table 13 in the Appendix 1). c. How do they administrate their business? To determine prices, the majority of the providers (59.3%) take into account the fixed and variable costs; very few (11%) guide themselves by market prices without calculating their own costs; likewise, only a few add a standard profit percentage (30%) to their costs. It should be pointed out that 18.5% of the designers set their costs depending on the client, that is to say the exclusivity of the product or the time involved determine the price for the service. (See Table 14 in the Appendix 1). The type of payment for the services is in cash or by credit. 58.8% of the providers accept credit and allow the clients to pay for the service in parts. (See Tables 15 and 16 in the Appendix 1). 41.2% of the design service providers do not have full-time permanent workers while 58.8% do. The temporary workers depend on market demand and according to the data received, 64.7% of the temporary workers work full time when working. (See Tables 17 to 21 in the Appendix 1). Only one third of the workers received some type of employment benefit: medical insurance, pension plans, vacations. (See Table 22 in the Appendix 1). Business assets reach US$ 1,000 for 6% of the providers. 29.4% have assets between US$ 2,400 and US$ 6,000 and 23.5% of the providers have assets of more than US$ 22,500. (See Table 23 in the Appendix 1). Among those interviewed was one provider with machinery valued at 6

13 more than US$ 100,000 although its real cost was much lower. This is the case of Mr. Nery Simeón, another shoe last provider. Like many other young people in his place of origin, at the age of 20 and with only a fifth grade education he was forced to move due to lack of work. He came to the Capital from the central sierra and started to work in a shoe last factory where he learned the tricks of the trade. After only a few years the factory went bankrupt ( the import substitution industrial model underwent a severe crisis and the reforms in industrial policy in the country were insufficient to meet the crisis). With the money received from his employment security benefits he opened his own workshop and started to do the only thing he knew how to do: make shoe lasts. Since 1989, he has designed and provided shoes lasts for women s, men s and children s shoes according to the latest fashion trends. However, this migrant with little formal education has additional merit. In his interest to meet the demand of his growing market, he decided to build a shoe last copying machine based on his ability to observe and analyze. With a US$ 6000 investment he built the machine saving himself a lot of money because the market price for the machine was US$ 90,000. This drew a lot of attention from his own peers and strangers alike, The President of the Republic even visited his workshop and congratulated him for his ingenuity. Market competition is strong and is basically due to prices and the excessive supply of similar services provided by small private enterprises. Public institutions and NGOs are not considered to be competitors. (See Tables 24 to 27 in the Appendix 1). d. What were the results? The total number of clients declared was 6,578 of which 23% are steady clients. 53.8% of the providers have between 21 and 60 clients and 23.1% have up to 20 clients. (See Tables 28 and 29 in the Appendix 1). The estimated income for design and decoration services reaches US$ 516, % had incomes of more than US$ 10,000 and 23.1% had incomes between US$ 3,000 and US$ 10,000. (See Tables 30 and 31 in the Appendix 1). e. What is needed to improve their services? It should be pointed out that the majority said that they do not need training, information or business relation services to improve their services, but there is a large percentage (58.8%) that has other needs. Among these, credit is the most often mentioned (90%). Those that did say that they needed training wanted it to improve their products and well as their business management. Equally, the information requested has to do with markets, and they want better business relations with their colleagues and clients. (See Tables 32 and 33 in the Appendix 1). 7

14 4.2 Decoration Services (merchandising) a. What does the service consist of and what do the private providers offer? The service includes the preparation and presentation of diagrams, plans, materials, budgets to transform spaces and display commercial products in rooms and showcases in small businesses. It was found that the decorators working with SMEs dedicate themselves to transforming interiors preferably in the business sector and in restaurants and hotels. b. How do they obtain market access? The two principle methods that the decoration service providers use to enter the SME market are client recommendations and searching for new clients themselves (29.4% in each case). Ads in magazines, newspapers and pamphlets are used by 23.5%. Only 11.8% uses posters and billboards. Radio, internet and strategic location (where demand is high) are not used. (See Table 10 in the Appendix 1). The amount destined to promoting their services vary from those that spend US$ 50 or less (37.5%) and those that spend between US$ 91 and US$ 250 (50%). (See Table 11 in the Appendix 1). For 47.15% of those interviewed, confidence, responsibility, honesty, fulfillment and punctuality are what their clients like most. In second place, service quality and guarantee were preferred (35.3%) and lastly personalized attention (11.8%). As for the service demanded by the clients in trade or the restaurant business, it is very likely that artistic sense is expressed in confidence and fulfillment among others. (See Table 12 in the Appendix 1). One restaurant decorator, who did not finish his studies in Escuela de Bellas Artes (an art school), affirms that the majority of his clients leave everything regarding the visual presentation of the ambits that he must transform in his hands. In order to have an idea of what the client likes he has a long conversation with the client I only ask two basic questions: Why do you want to have a restaurant?. Generally, the answers give me an idea of the type of food the client plans to sell; the type of clients he wishes to attend; the type of attention he wants to offer (how he is distinguished: prices, treatment, image). The other question is How much money is available for decoration expenses? The decorators say that the obstacles to their supplying better service are due to external factors, especially three in particular: lack of capital, the economic situation in the country, and unfair competition (22.2% each). There are probably no problems with qualified human resources or with equipment and tools. (See Table 13 in the Appendix 1). c. How do they administrate their business? Although the majority (56.3%) determine their prices by analyzing the fixed and variable costs there are also those that simply add a standard 8

15 profit percentage of between 30 and 50%. In addition, there are no established fees in this market but rather services are charged for in function of the cost structure. (See Table 14 in the Appendix 1). The type of payment for the service given is in cash or by credit. 40% of the providers accept credit and generally allow the clients to pay for the service in two parts. (See Tables 15 and 16 in the Appendix 1). Also, 60% of the decoration service providers have 1, 2 or 4 full-time permanent workers. However, 40% of the workers are temporary help. (See Tables 17 to 21 in the Appendix 1). Only 20% of the workers receive their rights to employment benefits (See Table 22 of the Appendix 1). Likewise, 70% of the businesses have assets between US$ 901 and US$ 6, % have assets of less than US$ 900 and 10% have assets of more than US$ 22,500. (See Table 23 in the Appendix 1). Competition is strong and intense and is the result of prices and the over supply of similar services provided by small, medium and large private enterprises. The public institutions and the NGOs are not considered to be competitors. (See Table 23 in the Appendix 1). d. What were the results? The total number of clients declared was 1,562 of which 60% are steady clients. 50% of those interviewed said that they have between 21 and 60 clients and 20% said that they have between 20 and 60 clients. (See Tables 28 and 29 in the Appendix 1). The estimated yearly income for the decoration services reaches US$ 316,130. Approximately 76.9% declared that their income was more than US$ 10,000. (See Tables 30 and 31 in the Appendix 1). e. What is needed to improve their services? Once again, the vast majority said that they do not need training or information although they did declare the need for ways of expediting new business relationships (70%) especially with businesses in general. Those that did say that needed training wanted it in order to improve their product; the information requested dealt strictly with markets and as for other needs, capital was again demanded by 100% of the providers. (See Tables 32 and 33 in the Appendix 1). 4.3 Training Services a. What does the service consist of and what do the private providers offer? 9

16 This category consists of those providers who are directly involved with transmitting knowledge or developing abilities in production or management to SMEs. Those supplying training are not only found in the technical or vocational schools, they are also professionals that work for private institutions and that offer their training services. They are found in all the sectors, that is to say that they are found in design and decoration; they offer training in the handling of equipment (usually machine providers); they offer training in carpentry, shoemaking and clothing manufacture; they teach how to elaborate new products; in transportation, they teach how to drive correctly. In general, they work with adult secondary education. b. How do they obtain market access? The favorite method for becoming known in the market is through magazines, newspapers and pamphlets (33.3%), but there are also those who become known through client recommendations (29.2%). Another method is through friends (19.4%) and radio (11.1%) (See Table 10 in the Appendix 1). Investment in publicizing their services is varied. 27.6% invests more than US$ 250, but there are also those that invest less than US$ 20 (24.1%). (See Table 11 in the Appendix 1). One interesting case which shows the evolution of the forms of offering services is the story of a trainer who began working independently in a small locale in an area where the providers of raw materials for shoemaking were concentrated. In the beginning he of f ered patternmaking and design services for Lima workshops, but later he dedicated himself to training upon observing that many young people left secondary school without knowing how to do anything while on the other hand the apprentices in the shoe-making workshops did not have enough money to pay for specialized technical training. I m the pioneer and leader in technical training in pattern-making and design. I realized that there was a lot of demand for apprentices but the problem was that they didn t have money or the shoe-making workshops where they worked didn t give enough importance to training their workers. For this reason, I programmed 3-month courses with a registration fee of S/ and a monthly fee of S/ ; they generally pay me S/ weekly. People come to me due to the recommendations of the students themselves and the reports they have made about me on TV (up to 3 channels) when the small and micro-enterprise theme became popular. I also distribute flyers in galleries and where shoes are sold. Clients who seek training services first want to have confidence in the provider (30%), then they look for quality and guarantee (25%) and lastly, personalized attention (21.7%). It should be pointed out that there are that look for efficiency and effectiveness in the training. (See Table 12 in the Appendix 1). 10

17 The principle obstacle found by the trainers is the lack of capital (17.1%) and unfair price competition (14.6%) as well as the fact that their clients do not really appreciate the value of training (14.6%). (See Table 13 in the Appendix 1). c. How do they administrate their business? In general, they set their prices by taking into account the fixed and variable cost structure (48.2%). They also observe the market prices (32.1%). There are also those (12.5) who determine their prices in relation to the demands of the clients. (See Table 14 in the Appendix 1). The majority of the trainers (60.5%) do not offer credit and if they do, approximately 40% prefer to be paid in two parts. (See Table 15 and 16 in the Appendix 1). However, there is a paradigmatic case of one female trainer with a high level of social sensitivity, who gives free assessment to poor country people who have the desire to start their own business. Mrs. Ana María Navarro of 50 years of age and a native of Ocoña in Arequipa, is a consultant and advisor for studies and diagnoses of local reality and training in Business Management. She is a professional in education, specializing in guidance counseling. She has a masters degree in Educational Psychology and a Doctorate in Business Management. She says I work as an NGO consultant for which I receive payment, however, I advise and help groups of people who want to start micro-enterprises but who do not have the money to pay me I help them because I see that they have a lot of initiative and the desire to work. The people come and explain to me what they know how to do and tell some of their very simple ideas of starting a business. Some of them have gone to government institutions or even to some NGOs for orientation about market demand and work opportunities, but they also want to have continuous supervision until they dominate the business. Around 50% of the trainers say that they do not have permanent full-time help. 21% of them have 1 or 2 workers. The rest of those interviewed have a varying number of workers depending upon the type of institution to which they pertain (educational centers and technical institutes among others). (See Tables 17 to 21 in the Appendix 1). As for employment benefits, 36.7% enjoy the right to a vacation and only 23.3% have contributions made to their pension plan. (See Table 22 in the Appendix 1). The value of their assets for 28.1% of the trainers is less than US$ 1000 although approximately 22% have assets between US$ 6000 and US$ 22,500. There is a smaller percentage of 18.8% with asset superior to US$ 22,500. (See Table 23 in the Appendix 1). Competition has been strong and intense during 1999 due more to an over supply of services than to prices. The competition comes from the private sector especially from small (48.1%) and medium-sized (29.6%) businesses. It is interesting to note that 26.8% felt that their was not a sense of competition during said year. (See Tables 25 to 27 in the Appendix 1). 11

18 d. What were the results? In the sample studied there were 7,633 clients of which 20% were steady clients. Approximately 48% of those interviewed had up to 60 clients and 23.7% had between 130 and 500 clients. There are nearly 8% that declared that they had more than 500 clients. These last pertained to technical training centers. (See Tables 28 and 29 in the Appendix 1). Total income reached US$ 2,004, More than two-thirds of those interviewed said that their income was more than US$ 10,000. (See Tables 30 and 31 in the Appendix 1). e. What is needed to improve their services? Approximately 42.1% believe that they need training to improve their services. Of these, 53.3% want training orientated towards developing their products and 46.7% want training to improve management skills. It should be mentioned that there are also trainers who proposed the need for capital (77.8%), promotion (16.7%) and government policies (5.6%). (See Tables 32 and 33 in the Appendix 1). 4.4 Technical Assistance Services a. What does the service consist of and what do the private providers offer? This category is comprised of services for improving productive processes, management, security, engineering studies and investment projects. The providers interviewed offer technical assistance associated with the sale of equipment and machinery, but they also offer repair and maintenance services to maintain production. b. How do they obtain market access? The providers of technical assistance services become known in the market through client recommendations (31.4%). They also place ads in magazines, newspapers and pamphlets (29.6%). 17.1% use the direct route by looking for clients personally and 14.3% make use of posters and billboards. (See Table 10 in the Appendix 1). Investment in publicity is small, around 75% of them spend less than US$ 100. (See Table 11 in the Appendix 1). The clients selection of the technical assistance service provider is chiefly based on the quality and guarantee of the service (41%) but it is also based on confidence in the provider as a person (30.8%). Efficiency and costs are also a factor of differentiation (15.4%). (See Table 12 in the Appendix 1). 12

19 One technician that offers machine maintenance and repair services for the clothing manufacturing industry in Gamarra says: clients look for me because when I am asked to repair a machine, I like to leave it working well even if I have to work past midnight when the client sees that you are dedicated to your work and are worried about his needs or problems, he is faithful to you There are several types of obstacles for this type of service, the idiosyncrasy of the clients is mentioned (20%) along with lack of capital (10%), the economic situation of the country (15%), unfair competition (15%) and the cost of the service (15%). The year 1999 was characterized by strong competition basically due to the over supply of service (54.5%). (See Table 13 in the Appendix 1). c. How do they administrate their business? Around 39% of the providers fix their prices according to a system that takes into account the f ixed and variable costs. 22.6% add a predetermined percentage to their costs and 12.9% take into account the market rates. (See Table 14 in the Appendix 1). There is a 45.5% that give credit in various payments or in proportion to the confidence they have in the client. (See Tables 15 and 16 in the Appendix 1). Those interviewed state that 54.5% of their workers are permanent f ulltime help and 40.9% of them have from 1 to 3 workers. 45.5% have temporary full-time help and 36.4% have between 1 to 3 workers. (See Tables 17 to 21 in the Appendix 1). Only one out of every four workers has a pension plan and vacations while 30% have medical insurance. (See Table 22 in the Appendix 1). In regards to business assets, 36.8% have an investment between US% 900 and US$ 2, % estimate that their investment is between US$ 6,000 and US$ 22,500. (See Table 23 in the Appendix 1). Competition has basically been due to over supply (54.5%) and prices (27.3%). Competition in 1999 was considered to be strong by 65.9% of the providers and said competition came from small and medium-sized enterprises. (See tables 25 to 27 in the Appendix 1). d. What were the results? In the service sample studied, a total of 5,033 clients were found. Of these, 13% were steady clients. Client distribution shows that 40.9% of the providers have between 131 and 500 clients, 22.7% have between 21 and 60 clients and a similar percentage has between 61 and 130 clients. (See Tables 28 and 29 in the Appendix 1). Total income for this sector was more than US$ 455, % of the providers declared having an income of between US$ 3,000 and US$ 10,000. In addition, 30% surpassed this amount. (See Tables 30 and 31 in the Appendix 1). 13

20 e. What is needed to improve their services? The percentage of providers interviewed that say that they do not need training, information, business relations and others to improve their services is always greater than those who say they need it. The type of necessities suggested by them are support for developing their products (50%), normativeness (50%), relations with businesses in general (50%) and capital (70%). (See Tables 32 and 33 in the Appendix 1). 4.5 Counseling Services a. What does the service consist of and what do the private providers offer? This includes business development counseling and legal assessment for the fulfillment of regulations. The providers interviewed offer business development counseling services in the administration of systems, project formulation, environmental impact studies, and personnel evaluation. counseling services include the constitution of enterprises, labor affairs and commercial administrative formalities. b. How do they obtain market access? Those that offer legal and business counseling services enter the market preferably through client recommendations (42.9%) or directly through personal contacts (29.6%). 19% believe that the location of their business is important for obtaining clients. (See Table 10 in the Appendix 1). Investment to promote these services is very small. 25% of the providers invest less than US$ 20 in publicity, another 25% invest between US$ 20 and US$ 90, the remaining 50% spend from US$90 to more than US$ 250. (See Table 11 in the Appendix 1). The clients prefer one service over another more for their confidence in the provider as a professional and as a person (68.8%) than in the product or service itself (6.3%). Clients who look at prices first make up approximately 18.8%. This information clearly shows that confidence is even more important when establishing a legal relationship. (See Table 12 in the Appendix 1). The confidence factor is what helps me keep my clients says one legal consultant - I offer different types of services in the legal field: trials, contracts, business licenses, health certificates, etc. I work in Villa El Salvador where I have been a Justice of the Peace, Secretary to the Board and Manager of the Industrial Park between 1980 and I am sincere with my clients, I make them see the problems involved with not meeting the legal norms and I offer them several possible solutions. I think they also like my self-assurance when I explain things the difference between my services and those of an empiricist is that I can give them the guarantee that they will not have problems later, this at the same 14