Business Development Trainer (Consultancy)

Vulnerable Lebanese continue to suffer and see their own circumstances deteriorate as the Lebanese economy continues to show signs of prolonged stagnation, reducing income-generating opportunities. With the anticipation of a protracted crisis, unsustainable levels of humanitarian funding, and threats to social cohesion, there is a need to support the resilience of refugees and their host communities.

The IRC’s Rescuing Futures II program -with support from the CITI Foundation- is implemented from August 2019 until July 2021 across six countries: Greece, Germany, Cameroun, Nigeria, Jordan and Lebanon. In Lebanon, the program supports vulnerable entrepreneurs in setting up or in expanding their business, through the provision of cash-grant and non-financial, business development services (BDS). Those services are intended to prepare the entrepreneurs at the early stage of their business-journey, preparing them to be better knowledgeable in terms of financial literacy, record-keeping, marketing, customer-service and general business development principles.

Under Rescuing Futures II, the IRC’s Private Sector Engagement (PSE) unit, will be contracting a consultant to deliver the above-mentioned business development services.

Specifically, the consultant will be expected to:

OBJECTIVES:

• Develop a 2-day curriculum (possibly on the basis of IRC’s current material) to train entrepreneurs ongeneral business principles (Marketing /Management/Finance/Customer-Service, including brief understanding of the impact of currency fluctuation on pricing and business management – Mitigation techniques )
• Deliver the training for a total of 8 sessions (2-day each). Two sessions to be delivered per each of the four regions over the duration of 2 months (equivalent to one weekly course)
• Utilize the training sessions as a platform for clients to share expertise, discuss business concerns and market-dynamics in an open approach that will add to the outcome of training
• Update and fine-tune IRC’s current BDS material based on the trainer experience and resources while also adding to it from the findings reached/concluded during the trainings
• Involve the program manager and officers in the training delivery (shadowing) where applicablein a manner that develops their facilitation/training and BDS understanding without impacting the outcome

METHODOLOGY:

The trainer will review a sample of the clients’ entrepreneurial profile to better understand the general scope of the trainees, their business and the communities they come from.

The trainer will review current BDS material, update them in a manner that will cover any missing topics, eliminate outdated principles or those considered irrelevant, and connect those with business-cases, exercises, and visuals that would allow the trainees to better grasp the concepts.

Delivery of the trainings should be open and flexible in manner that leaves a space to accommodate differences between different regions and topics (industries/models). The trainings should also adopt an open approach that allows participants to interactively share their thoughts, questions, and concerns for the best outcome possible.

Though the material and content of the trainings are introductory in terms of level, it is still essential that advanced skills and tools (presentations, story-telling, discussions, triggering-questions, creative-thinking, and problem-solving) should be used to uplift the approach those trainees have towards business-management.

Cooperation between the Trainer and the PSE team is necessary at governorate and scheme level to adapt the training-delivery in a manner that achieves best results. This flexibility is most important when delivery sites change, to account for the specificities of the areas ranging from Mount Lebanon to Wadi-Khaled where differences are anticipated regarding the clients’ profile and their business needs. A one-size fits all approach would not be suitable for those trainings.

The training sessions will be an opportunity to develop the skills and experience of the PSE team. Hence the trainer is expected to allow the officers to play a role in the preparation of the trainings through shadowing and assisting in order to better equip them shall they need to do individual, small-group trainings, or on-field coaching in the future.

Approximate group-size per training session is expected to range between 5 to 15 clients with the freedom for IRC to combine two regions when necessary in what should be considered (one session) when needed as long as the total number does not exceed 15.

The training will extend over a period of two months during the first quarter of 2020 with one training per week (2-days each). A total of 8 trainings will be delivered across 4 regions (two in Akkar, one in T+5, and one in Mount-Lebanon).

Each training day will consist of 6 hours, with 5.5 hours for training and half an hour break.

Material Preparation (including the update of the IRC’s BDS presentations),alignment/preparation session with the program manager/officers, in addition to meeting sample clients and reviewing sample business-cases are all considered as a prerequisites and an integrated part of the agreement.

The training agreement will include 8 sessions for clients, each consisting of two-days, with an average number of 15 trainees per each session. Those session will be given at the rate of one session per week for two months during the first quarter of 2020. In addition to the training sessions, four additional days will be needed as shown below for pre-training preparations, curriculum update, and final report

OTHER DETAILS:

Movement to/from training center will be arranged by the IRC and movement time is not compensated. Trainer needs to reach the training facility 30 minutes prior to the session for proper preparation. All requested training materials (print-outs, projectors, boards, and stationary) will be provided by the IRC.

The updated BDS material are property of the IRC and the IRC will have the right to use those materials in future programs.