Consultancy: Business Development Services

Business Development Services

Terms of Reference

Background

With the support of DFAT, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, Oxfam, Care, Makhzoumi Foundation, and the Lebanese Union for People with Physical Disabilities (LUPD), aim to contribute to the economic self-reliance, resilience, and social stability of displacement-affected populations as prioritized by the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan (LCRP), by supporting bottom-up and locally owned solutions to the economic and social challenges faced in communities hosting refugees.

The Consortium’s Action in the Beqaa region of Lebanon is geared towards fostering the country’s social stability through the contribution to the economic resilience of host communities. 

Specific objectives of the intervention include:

• Improved access to sustainable livelihoods opportunities benefitting vulnerable households and individuals, particularly youth, women, and people living with disabilities;
• Improved economic enabling environment and service delivery in communities hosting refugees;
• The engagement of local, national, and regional stakeholders directly and through awareness campaigns to address the everyday market and regulatory barriers that restrict business potential and access of vulnerable groups to employment opportunities.

Scope of work

Under the Action, Oxfam is responsible for the provision of support to micro and small enterprises (MSEs). Established and nascent MSEs will be supported to become more viable and sustainable through the provision of business development services (BDS) through business coaching that addresses the main obstacles to their growth. For example, BDS could aim to improve the management structure, internal systems, cost effectiveness, market access, and quality of products or services of target enterprises.

Gaps have been identified in small businesses’ knowledge, in their access to financial resources and markets, and in the recruitment of workers with the needed competencies

Oxfam will conduct outreach in municipalities around Zahle and Bekaa to identify potential enterprises for support. Oxfam will prioritize three sectors, pre-identified through a market research and a skills gap assessment conducted in 2016, and with a potential for growth and job creation: food processing, food services, and construction. Enterprises will also be selected from an existing database populated with profiling data from previously conducted assessments. Referrals from agencies operating under the Livelihoods sector of the LCRP will be encouraged as well as those from the Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture in Zahle and the Bekaa. Following the profiling and selection stages, areas of improvement will be supported through business coaching provided by experts, at no costs to the entrepreneurs. Tailored capacity building schemes will be available to the enterprises and optimized for each enterprise depending on identified needs.

Access to markets will be facilitated by organizing events where entrepreneurs can meet, and by facilitating their participation in trade fairs in Lebanon, with the support of the Chamber of Commerce. Simultaneously, they will receive information and advice to improve working conditions to mitigate the risk of exploitation of vulnerable groups such as refugees and impoverished communities.

Geographic focus

Based on the project target areas, the geographic focus of the project will comprise enterprises in the Beqaa and Baalbeck-Hermel Governorates, mainly the districts of Zahle and Baalbeck, including Zahle and Baalbeck cities and selected nearby areas. Service providers and/or coaches must be able to travel frequently, several times per week to target areas to work with target enterprises on-site.

Target

The Action targets 50 registered and non-registered micro (with maximum 10 employees) and small (between 11 and 50 employees) enterprises (MSEs) along sectors with a potential for growth and job creation that have been pre-identified.

Depending on the characteristics of target cadastres, enterprises in other sectors can also be prioritized.

Implementation methodology

The growth and scale-up of MSEs will be supported through a demand-driven and needs-based approach to identify specific barriers and address them. Oxfam will draw a diagnostic of all selected enterprises, to assess main issues and point out required expert advice. Service providers and coaches will be asked to collaborate on the selection of enterprises. Coaches will be hired according to enterprise’s needs; they will deliver coaching sessions on a one-on-one basis or – if the same need is common to multiple enterprises - in groups. Oxfam will closely follow up with the consultants, evaluate, and keep track of consultants’ performance.

Priority will be given to enterprises with economic viability and sustainability potential, growth and job creation potential as well as a positive social impact. To assess this, the Consortium collects information, through an enterprise profiling tool, on the economic viability and sustainability of enterprises, the growth and job creation potential, and social impact of businesses. This is assessed through an assessment of the expertise of the business owner, the economic sector chain (with preference for the sectors that are most successful in the area and those with a potential to grow), and the involvement of the enterprise with women, youth, and the wider community, among other factors.

Following the selection of enterprises, the project envisions coaching support that is tailored for the needs of each enterprise. This can be done over a series of visits, including an assessment meeting which is preferably conducted on-site at the enterprise premises. The exact support activities to be provided will be clarified following an assessment.

This assessment will form the basis of a business development plan which includes an assessment of the current situation of the enterprise, its business development goals, and its business development roadmap.

 Oxfam anticipates an average of 10 coaching sessions to be provided per enterprise. The business development plan will detail the support services which will be offered by the service provider/consultant after discussions with Oxfam. Needs are expected to vary for enterprises in different sectors, locations, and of different sizes. As a final step, service providers will work collaboratively with each enterprise to update existing business plans or produce a business plan, as needed by each enterprise.

Deliverables
1- Assessment meetings with selected enterprises;
2- Business development plan for each enterprise, detailing assessment findings, identified business development goals, the content to be covered during coaching sessions, as well as the delivery timeline;
3- Development of progress monitoring forms and tools;
4-Delivery of coaching sessions;
5-Provision of material and/or tools needed for the delivery of coaching sessions;
6- Final evaluation report detailing the progress of the enterprises and outlining steps for future improvement (this document could include an updated business plan if this is an identified need).

Timeframe

Support to micro and small enterprises will start in March 2018 and is anticipated to end in May 2018. Date of initiation: as soon as possible.

Required expertise

- Demonstrated experience in providing business development support to enterprises;
- Demonstrated experience in providing business training to enterprises on a wide array of topics;
- Proven ability to carry out wide-ranging operations;
- Proven facilitation and coaching skills;
- Experience in working with enterprises in similar contexts.

Expression of Interest (EOI)

Interested consultants and/or service providers must submit their bids, in two sections (i) Technical Proposal and (ii) Financial Proposal. Bids should be received by the deadline, midnight of 27/03/2018 (Lebanon Time) to the address mentioned below.

Technical proposals should include:

• Preliminary work plan;
• Detailed coaching methodology;
• CV’s of applicant(s) and/or employees;
• Minimum of three references of similar projects implemented, preferably INGO or local NGO experiences;
• List of previous clients.

Financial proposals should include:

• Preliminary general budget including consultancy fees for both individual coaching sessions and potential group training sessions if needed.

Legal documentation to be attached to the proposals:

• Registration and official government documents (for companies and individuals if applicable).
• Please note that if you are not registered then 7.5% will be deducted from the total amount.

Oxfam International in Lebanon reserves the right to reject any and all bids, including the Bidding processes, or not to award the contract at any time, without thereby incurring and liability to the affected Bidders.

Please submit the EOI and other documents (as mentioned above) by midnight of 27/03/2018 Lebanon time to lebanonjobs@oxfam.org.uk mentioning ‘Business Development Services to MSEs’ in the Subject line.