Business and Organisational Development
Business Development Services
Our Business Support Packages have been designed to address the specific
needs of business depending on geographic location, sector and growth stage. We have two packages of support available:
New Start Business Package: The areas for new start businesses which we focus on include the following challenge areas where we can provide 1-2-1 practical business advice and mentoring.
They include:
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Business Registration
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Business Plan Development
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Organisational Structure and Governance
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Market Research
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Marketing Strategy
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Branding and Marketing
Existing Business Packages: The main challenge areas include:
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Cash Management
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Risk Management
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Organisational Management
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Vision and Strategy
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Market Research
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Marketing and Strategic Communications
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Business Plan Credibility
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Branding and Marketing
We then use our innovative scorecard to diagnose and recommend actions for the business that will help achieve business objectives. The process starts with a 3 Day Operational and Financial Diagnostic that will result in recommendations along with an agreed priority Action Plan. This action plan will then be used to match the business with one of our approved mentors/specialist advisers for an agreed period of 121 business support and mentoring based on the business support package.
Preparing for Finance & Investment
GFA Consulting and Urban Inclusion have jointly designed and deployed an innovative business support programme to help African SMEs meet the expectations of demanding investors/lenders when it comes to fundraising.
Diagnostic
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Operational and financial diagnostic completed on premises
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Discussion with your senior management
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Duration: 3 to 5 days
Scoring and recommendations
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Assessment completed using our proprietary scorecard
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Recommendations and action plan
Business support
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Maximum 6 months support with the effective implementation of corrective actions
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Provision of simple and tangible tools, including business plan and investment proposal
Exit scoring
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Final scoring of the company to assess results against objectives
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Referrals to investors/lenders only if the exit score is minimum 60%
Inform and Connect
Urban Inclusion West Africa, in conjunction with our partners the Business Development Services (BDS) Network, have come together to offer business matching and market research services to companies and freelancers interested in exploring opportunities in West Africa and for companies in West Africa interested in Accessing Markets that include the UK, Europe and China. Accessing information about markets and industries in West Africa is challenging and expensive. Inform and Connect can help you find much needed information and business connections in the country to make prospecting for business easier.
Business Matching Service
We now offer business matching services to freelancers or businesses based outside Africa that are looking for potential partners in West Africa OR West African based companies interested in markets that include the UK, Europe and China.
Potential Partners include:
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Product suppliers
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Agents
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Licensees
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Joint Ventures
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Service providers
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Distributors
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Franchisees
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Other Strategic partners
Market Research Service
When starting or expanding your business in a new region or market, access to information about that market will ultimately inform your strategy. As a business you cannot under-estimate the importance of up-to-date relevant information and our dedicated team, with over 10 years of delivering some of the best market research data for leading West Africa based companies, including multinationals based in the region, is now available to businesses based outside the region.
Continuous Professional Development and Training
Our CPD programmes are designed to combine training and the development of skills for business and/or career enhancement and are solution and results focused. We have a suite of ready-made training programmes but we also design bespoke services based on your needs.
We help you to design and implement effective systems in staff development with a focus on the attainment of transferable skills, professional accredited courses and leadership and management skills. We use a range of teaching methods including reflective practice, research portfolios, presentations, workshops, master classes, group learning, appraisal and supervision and mentoring and coaching.
CPD services
Self-Assessment – Designed to help employees and managers reflect on, review and document their learning as well as identify training and courses to update their professional knowledge and skills. Especially useful for staff appraisal and identifying learning and development needs.
Working towards business/company objectives – Often businesses suffer from poorly communicating their company’s goals, vision and values to employees. We can help you to clarify, interpret and communicate your company’s aims, objectives and work culture and align these with your expectations of employees.
Communication and Presentation Skills – Understanding what makes for good communication can be a hit and miss exercise. Rarely do we have the opportunity to evaluate our communication skills until something goes wrong. We can provide company wide and individual training that will provide practical techniques and tools for improvement in your communications.
Interpersonal skills – An essential in all personal communications and for working in teams, we provide training that will help you to improve your working relationships and team dynamics. We include strategies to build team relationships, manage accountability and recognise opportunities for growth within your team.
Time Management – How do you currently use time? We can provide you with strategies to improve patterns of work, prioritise your objectives and goals, adopt practical techniques for organising work and use time-management tools and systems effectively.
Leadership and Management Skills – Aimed at supervisors, managers and work peers. Adopting an appropriate leadership and management style has everything to do with the success of teams and achieving goals at work. Our programme will help you to recognise your personal traits and leadership ability; assess your current leadership style; adopt an appropriate style and strategies to get the best out of your teams and help you to develop and maintain good working relationships.
Mentoring and Coaching – We offer mentoring and coaching services that are action based and designed to meet your professional and business development needs. We also run mentoring services to support training initiatives to ensure that key skills are developed and transferred to the business and working environment.
Workforce Development and Vocational Training
Skills development is a key factor in the employability of workers and the sustainability and growth of all types of organisations. We offer a unique range of workforce development programmes and vocational training in West Africa that meet the labour market needs for skills in key growth sectors and aim to improve productivity and competitiveness.
We design and deliver vocational skills training workshops for apprenticeships, internships and volunteer services for companies, organisations and institutions. We offer accredited vocational training courses in partnership with CABE Global and work readiness and skills development programmes that specialise in developing work-based skills including self-management, communications, teamwork and interpersonal skills and customer service skills.
We also train and capacity build organisations that wish to create impactful community based services such as volunteering and mentoring services.
We offer practical, hands-on short courses in recruitment and employment practices, staff appraisal, support and supervision systems and customer service skills.
CPD
CPD
CPD
CPD
Local Economic Development
Project Management
Local governments and development organisations often need to advocate for and manage change in communities that drive local economic development, job creation as well as provide basic services to help communities thrive. Urban Inclusion’s services provide organisations with experience and a track record of results oriented management for a range of urban regeneration programmes and projects.
Urban Inclusion consultants
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have managed and worked on some of the most innovative regeneration projects in London as well as with forward-thinking organisations in West Africa.
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provide interim management solutions for organisations during times of change or until implementation of new management structures
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have been involved in some of the most exciting European Regional Development Funded sector-specific business support programmes including the Tower Hamlets Training and Employment Network (T’TEN); Ethnic Minority Enterprise Project (EMEP); Restaurant Support Programmes; SEW-EAST support for the fashion and creative sectors; London Apparel Resource Centre (LARC); the Cultural Business Investment (CBI) Programme; UKTI’s Export for Growth; and more recently the development of incubator and accelerator business support programmes for Stanbic Bank and CEIBS.
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have worked on the development and delivery of a range of public and private sector events including workshops, seminars, business networking and fundraising events; event management and strategic communications at large international events targeting key stakeholders, including local governments, the investment community, women political and business leaders; SMEs in the UK and MSMEs in Africa.
Bid & Proposal Writing
Urban Inclusion can help organisations win government and commercial contracts. We can provide a complete proposal writing service to manage project development starting with the research phase to project delivery and evaluation.
Urban Inclusion consultants have gained a reputation for the development of regeneration projects which focus on the development and delivery of projects through Public, Private & Community Partnerships (PPCP) that promote job creation, business development and innovation, cultural heritage, community prosperity and gender equality across a range of sectors.
As a social enterprise our mission is to help local economies and communities thrive, so our rates are very competitive.