FOREWORD

In recent years there has been an upsurge of interest in the role of small-scale enterprises as providers of employment and contributors to gross national product, and as a key component in economic development. This has been accompanied by the corresponding appearance of numerous publications on how to run small businesses. Given this, what is the justification for another book on the subject?

There are few publications which are simple enough to be understood easily by people with limited formal education but which can still communicate all the basic management knowledge required by entrepreneurs if they are to run small businesses successfully. This book is an attempt to fill this gap.

The underlying idea of the book is that improvements can best come from active and creative thinking by entrepreneurs about their own businesses. The purpose of this material is therefore to encourage such creative thinking and motivate entrepreneurs to take action to improve their businesses.

The material can be used equally well by individual business people or by trainers giving small business seminars and workshops.

The writing and publication of this book, as well as field testing of earlier versions in eastern Africa, was made possible by financial assistance from the Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). The main author and editor of this edition of Improve your business is D. E. N. Dickson, ILO Chief Technical Adviser in Nairobi. He was assisted by Henny Romijn and Per Linden. Many of the ideas in the Handbook and Workbook owe their origin to the earlier work of the late Rhys Wynne-Roberts, who devoted so much time and effort to adapting the original idea conceived by the Swedish Employers' Confederation. Acknowledgement is also due to many other colleagues in the ILO Management Development Branch, the Kenya Industrial Estates and other organisations, for the comments and suggestions on how to focus and present this material.