Aart-Jan van Ginkel on coaching for BiD Network

It is about four years now that I work for BiD Network and with a lot of pleasure. For a coach the BiD programme is flexible, because the work does not have strict time limits. You can easily work from home, use your spare time and put your own experience into practice by supporting an entrepreneur to write a perfect business plan.

Results

“One entrepreneur from Cameroon reached the finals and was invited to come to Amsterdam.”

Not all plans that I coached in the past have become successful. However the rating is good. One entrepreneur from Cameroon reached the finals and was invited to come to Amsterdam. Another one from Uganda is still active. The man wants to build a semi-automatic slaughter house for cattle. The application is now analyzed by the PSI of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in combination with a linked finance arranged by BiD. I am also coaching a plan in Peru. The collection of waste and the recycling of them is a subject that has my special attention.

What makes a plan a good plan?

‘A plan is good when it is realistic’

Let the project be realistic, basic, and easy to be handled. A low-profile and realistic plan has my preference. Realistic in its sales and profit margins, plans with a stable and realistic growing factor. Not too enthusiastic please!
It is important whether the entrepreneur has experience in the mentioned activity or not. If yes, he might have overcome the child-illnesses already.
The same counts for plans that base their profits on an enormous export of their products. My advice: let them start marketing their product locally, in their own region or country. Export is complicated for small and medium sized companies.

• Realistic plans, low profile, not too enthusiastic, realistic sales and profit figures.
• Many plans contain technical elements, machinery; check whether the entrepreneur knows the machinery he needs, the costs and from where he can obtain it.
• Social impact is important, but again be realistic. We all know that the best ideas with the highest social impact can be hard to be realized.

Communication with the entrepreneur

‘The entrepreneur has to do the work’

For a good partnership between the entrepreneur and coach they have to trust each other. As a coach, tell the entrepreneur why you chose or accepted to coach his plan. Tell about your special interest for this plan. Communicate with the entrepreneur, pose questions, and tell him/her your SWOT analysis of the plan, what is good what if not good. Confirm that you have the same interest to carry the plan further in the BiD Network.
Tell him or her that the coach gives advice and the entrepreneur has to do the work. That point is not always understood.

Combination of activities:

‘It is easier to coach a plan for BiD coming from a country which you have recently visited’

I have the advantage to work not only for BiD, but also for PUM, the Netherlands Senior Experts. For PUM I travel about 3 times a year to SME’s in the same countries as where BiD works. It is easier to coach a plan for BiD coming from a country which you have recently visited or sometimes more than one time. You know the local circumstances, the possibilities and impossibilities.

Anecdote from an internet café in Uganda:

‘Our eyes met and I saw a BiD logo on his screen.’

I was in Uganda and I was looking at my email in an internet café, sitting there with some 30 black youngsters and me, one white man. My neighbor was looking at my screen and I was looking at his screen. Our eyes met and I saw a BiD logo on his screen. He told me he was looking for international contacts that could help him to get a job and start up a business. I gave him advice and told him what was needed to present a plan to BiD. The man sends me a Christmas card every year since. It proves how eager young people from Africa are to get a better life standard. They deserve our support.

Finally..

“The BiD formula is modern, effective and deserves my support”

Finally, it is a pleasure to work for BiD. It is one of my volunteering jobs after my early-retirement five years ago. It makes me feel that I am still needed and wanted. If the feeling and the emotion is there it is a motivating filling of you spare time. The BiD formula is modern, effective and deserves my support.