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CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

Enterprise Development Definitions

Definition  # 1.   “Enterprise Development is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals, families, groups and organizations to supply useful goods and services profitably to the market.  It supports the development of essential business skills, enabling individuals to adapt to changing market conditions, and maintain business growth.  Support may be directed at improving services for entrepreneurs, such as savings and credit; management training; marketing linkages; and technology transfer - or improving the policy, regulatory or operating environment that enables business to thrive”. (2000 DFID )

Definition  # 2. Sustainable (Values-based) Enterprise Development (SED) is the process of sequential steps within a Balance Growth Strategic framework resulting in increasing the capacity of individuals, families, groups and organizations to supply useful goods and services profitably to the market within limits set by ecology and social values (Scott and Colley, September 2007).    Taking into consideration viabilities at the technical, economic, social and environmental levels, SED supports:

• Development of essentials skills
• Enabling individuals to adapt  to changing market conditions
• Maintaining business growth
• Improving the services for entrepreneurs such as savings, credit, management training, market linkages, and technology transfer
• Improving the policy , regulatory and operating environment that enable business to thrive
• Establishing sound procedures that result in the utilization of resources without extreme harm to the environment within the local context:
• Sustainable harvest/extraction such that the environment can regenerate itself
• Ensuring biodiversity and species
• Recycling of natural waste from production and processing
• Conservation of soil, water and the air
• Enabling people to make livelihoods from agro-ecological opportunities, such as eco-tourism, permaculture and organic farming
• Promotion of production and use of renewable resources