Call for Consultancy - Business Coach - Souk El Gharb

Position: Business Coach

Requirement: Proven experience in business development, SMEs, and entrepreneurship

Project: Makani

Time Frame for this assignment:  

Duration: November 2025 till March 2026

Location: Souk el Gharb

Type of consultancy: service agreement

About ABAAD

ABAAD– Resource Center for Gender Equality is a UN ECOSOC accredited organization that aims to achieve gender equality as an essential condition to sustainable social and economic development in the MENA region. ABAAD advocates for the development and implementation of policies and laws that enhance women’s effective participation, through a rights-based approach that would bring about tangible change to gender justice. With the purpose of ending gender-based violence, ABAAD adopts a holistic care approach to provide protection and support services to GBV survivors/right holders during times of peace, war, and disasters since 2011.

Overall Goal of the Assignment

The Makani project seeks to enhance educational services, empower caregivers, and support economically vulnerable mothers whose children are at risk of or excluded from school. The project builds pathways to economic empowerment and social inclusion by focusing on four main results:

1. Livelihood promotion
2. Social protection
3. Social empowerment
4. Financial inclusion

Within this framework, the Business Coach will strengthen the income-generation capacities of 80 economically vulnerable women residing in Souk el Gharb by providing them with tailored one-on-one coaching directly in their households. This individualized support will build on prior business development training, enabling women to establish and sustain small businesses and achieve greater economic self-reliance.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Business Coach will:

• Engage with women whose business plans were deemed eligible to review the proposed materials and equipment, ensuring the final list aligns closely with each business’s actual needs.

•  Develop a detailed Bill of Quantities, categorized by sector, in accordance with the standards and guidelines established for each sector.
• Provide strategic guidance and technical support to women entrepreneurs through household visits in Souk el Gharb.
• Offer structured one-on-one mentorship and progress tracking, ensuring alignment with each woman’s needs, market context, and business model.
• Develop and apply tools to monitor, assess, and enhance business growth.
• Facilitate capacity-building workshops if needed, ensuring effective knowledge transfer and confidence-building among participants.
• Establish referral mechanisms for all program participants to connect them with funding opportunities (e.g., NGO programs, accelerators, etc.)
• Submit clear documentation and reports demonstrating progress, challenges, and lessons learned.
• Conduct weekly visits to women-led businesses to provide hands-on coaching, monitor implementation of business plans, and address emerging challenges. 

Scope of Work

1. Business Coaching and Mentorship

• Conduct tailored household-based coaching sessions with 80 women, with approximately 2–5 sessions per participant, based on identified needs.
• Guide participants in business planning, procurement, pricing, and financial management.
• Provide advice on customer acquisition, market research, and revenue generation strategies.
• Ensure coaching is adapted to diverse sectors (e.g., food processing, marketing, handicrafts, sewing and tailoring, hospitality).
• Help participants mitigate risks such as market duplication or saturation by integrating local demand and competitiveness analysis.
• Facilitate linkages with suppliers, cooperatives, and local market actors when relevant.
• Facilitate participant access to funding opportunities by linking them with NGO programs, accelerators, and other relevant initiatives.

2. Tools Development and Reporting

• Develop user-friendly tools such as financial record sheets, business tracking templates, and goal-setting frameworks.
• Use empathy-based feedback mechanisms to capture women’s progress, challenges, and learning experiences.
• Prepare and submit the following deliverables:

1. Business Assessment Report for each participant, highlighting strengths, gaps, and market opportunities tailored to each entrepreneur’s context and sector.
2. Monthly Progress Reports summarizing sessions, lessons learned, and recommendations for further support.
3. Attendance Sheets and evidence of session implementation.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Proven experience in business development, entrepreneurship, and SME support (minimum 3–5 years).
• Demonstrated ability to provide one-on-one business coaching, preferably with vulnerable groups and women-led businesses.
• Strong knowledge of financial management, business planning, marketing, and customer engagement.
• Experience in designing practical tools for business tracking and coaching.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with sensitivity to diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Ability to conduct field-based coaching sessions in households in Souk el Gharb.
• Fluency in Arabic (required); working knowledge of English.