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IBM Launches Powerful Free Toolkit For MWBEs

Florida Regional Minority Business Council Supports Launch of IBM and IFC Small Business Toolkit to Create Jobs and Fuel Growth in Underserved Markets

IBM and IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank, recently launched this free small business toolkit specifically for women, Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian entrepreneurs in the U.S., and small business owners in emerging markets to receive highly developed business information, tools, and training services usually reserved for Fortune 1000 companies.

The heart of Florida’s economy is comprised of small business with employer firms up 3.3 percent from the previous year and 7.6 percent in the non-employer category. While small businesses generated between 60 to 80 percent of the new jobs annually in the U.S. over the past decade, they can be disadvantaged by the lack of access to resources such as skills, knowledge and information that larger businesses routinely use to grow and succeed. The same applies to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the developing world who also find that access to best practice and business management tools is a significant barrier to their growth and sustainability.

The SME Toolkit is a free program that enables entrepreneurs and small businesses to learn how to implement the sustainable business management practices needed for growth in areas such as finance, accounting, international business, marketing, human resources or legal.

“The success of local small businesses are vital to the growth of Florida’s economy,” said Beatrice Louissaint, President of the FRMBC. “We are proud to support IBM and the IFC in promoting the SME Toolkit., which offers good advice and business management practices. By offering this free, innovative and interactive site to our member businesses, we can help them improve their chance of survival and growth in our local communities, potentially serving as a source for new jobs.”

In the U.S., the SME Toolkit will focus largely on women and constituent-owned businesses. Globally, the IFC has joined with local partners to launch the Toolkit in more than 13 languages in 24 countries, all of which can now take advantage of the new enhanced version.

Amjad Shamim, an entrepreneur who is the president of AAJ Technologies recently used the toolkit. “This is a great source of information for businesses in the areas of management, planning marketing and human resources. The effort and technology IBM and the IFC have invested in the Toolkit to help freshmen entrepreneurs build and expand their businesses is highly commendable.”

Among the specially designed free tools are:

• an online calculator that helps small businesses determine their readiness for financing,
• free software to build a web site,
• free business forms used for employee performance evaluations,
• community tools such as online conferencing, blog capability, group calendars,
• survey and quiz builders to help small businesses make decisions, and
• a multilingual business directory to help small businesses link locally, regionally and globally.
  

Small businesses can also receive business training delivered via classroom workshops and partnerships with local support providers. The Toolkit can also help small businesses go global by providing detailed market access, investment and trade information for the 64 countries most exported to countries. In the U.S., an Advisory Group will review the more than 500 pieces of content, tools and resources and identify new tools specifically for Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and women-owned businesses.

“This truly is one stop shopping for small businesses and it levels the playing field. We know the tools that large businesses use and we know the role technology can play in leading to growth. Now, every business can have the same chance to succeed. It’s vitally important that we help small businesses who are the major employers and growth engines in developing markets,” said Stanley Litow, IBM Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs. “These are just the kind of tools that can help underserved markets be successful.”

The Toolkit was launched by IFC in 2002. IBM has dedicated more than $1.6 million to transform the Toolkit and rebuild it on an innovative open source platform using top talent in IBM research. The Toolkit now includes new Web 2.0 features such as live chat, online forums, business directories and survey capabilities to create a community where small and medium sized business can collaborate – anywhere around the world. For example, a group of small businesses could gather in an online forum to devise a strategy to bid on a large supply contract rather than as separate bids. The community tools also create an opportunity for peer learning.

In the future, the Toolkit will add new partners, markets and languages and is planned to allow users to connect to it using wireless devices, such as cell phones. In developing markets, mobile devices are increasingly becoming the way users connect to the Internet, and sometimes the only way.

The Toolkit is expanding to reach the massive small business market in India, South Africa and Brazil. The Toolkit is available in English and Spanish and translated in 14 other languages including, Nepali, Vietnamese and Urdu, with Hindi and Arabic set for release in 2007.

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About IFC

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing capital in the international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. IFC’s vision is that poor people have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY06, IFC committed $8.3 billion, including syndications, to 284 investments in 66 developing countries. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org.

For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com.

Broadcast-quality video clips of the small business toolkit (SME Toolkit) and discussion of its uses are available for download by journalists at www.thenewsmarket.com/ibm.

About FRMBC

FRMBC is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing access and growth for minority businesses in South Florida. The organization’s goal is to increase purchasing from minority businesses by government entities and corporations, while increasing MBEs’ operating capacity through hands-on business assistance, training, and access to technology and capital resources. FRMBC was founded in 1975 and is one of 39 regional councils affiliated with the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC). The Council acts as a liaison between Corporate America and Minority Business Enterprises in Dade, Broward, Monroe, St. Lucie, Collier, Charlotte, Martin, and Palm Beach Counties.

You may click on the SME Toolkit link in the "My Favorite Links" section of this site to take advantage of this service.

Dirty Laundry

I was speaking to a leader in the minority business community recently who (with great pain) told me the story of how he'd stepped up to help a few MBEs that needed guidance with regard to building their businesses. My friend gladly scheduled meetings with these MBEs - I believe there was three of them - and to his great disappointment, not one of them showed up, or even called!

This is much like the stories I've heard from Supplier Diversity executives or Minority Council staff members who tell of the frustration of putting on programming, setting appointments, or even scheduling one-on-ones for MBEs who fail to appear, without justification and without professional courtesy. This is a cancer that must stop. There are too many people who are working extremely hard to provide opportunities for minority-owned businesses. When those opportunities materialize, we cannot repay that hard work with indifference.

Minority businesses that conduct themselves in this fashion hurt more than their own reputations. They hurt every minority business. The struggle for economic parity and empowerment for minorities is an uphill battle, laden with misunderstanding and stereotypes. One huge stereotype is what I call the Minority Myth - the idea that somehow minorities produce inferior goods and services or are unprepared for success and are unprofessional.

Minority companies that fail to show up for appointments and events long planned for their benefit reinforce the Minority Myth, erode trust for minority companies, in general, and hurt the cause. I understand that this is a small "minority" of MBEs that engage in these practices. The overwhelming majority of MBEs are outstanding business-people who prove their professionalism every day. These MBEs appreciate the value of people's time and the stakes involved for their companies and the MBE community.

Nevertheless, the offenders should be confronted (professionally of course) and instructed in the art of professionalism and the ramifications of their bad behavior. I want to encourage anyone reading this to have the courage to address this issue wherever encountered. And if you don't know quite how to then talk to someone who can and will.

How can MBEs complain about lack of communication and commitment from mainline corporations when we do not demonstrate those values? There should be no double standards. We should hold ourselves to the same standards that we hold others. If we don't clean up the dirty laundry, who will?