literature on small business success

Colleagues,

I have a request that is related to that of Mr. Friedman. A graduate
student in our department is studying the success of small
businesses in rural Arkansas. The objective of the study is three
fold:
1)define and measure success (in traditional economic terms
(income, loan repayment, sales and employment expansion as
well as in terms of personal fulfillment such as being independent,
having more time with family, having the chance to be creative etc)
2)identify factors that effect (in both a positive and negative fashion)
the ability to be successful
3)identify the role that technical assistance (defined as financial
and managerial training and flexible loan repayment plans) plays in
success

The student is currently conducting a literature review related to the
three objectives above. Is anyone aware of any studies (landmark
or otherwise) which have addresses our three objectives. We would
like our literature review to be thorough. If anyone is aware of
anything in the literature I would appreciate it if you would pass it
on to me directly at
jhpopp@comp.uark.edu.
I will be happy to compile a list of all responses and post them at
this site.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Jennie Popp

Date sent: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 16:38:54 -0600
To: COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENTBANKING-
L@cornell.edu
From: Jason Friedman <jfriedman@ised.org>
Subject: Life skills/personal effectiveness training
Send reply to: jfriedman@ised.org

> Colleagues:
>
> Many of you practitioners in the microenterprise or community economic
> development field incorporate some form of life skills/personal
> effectiveness/self-esteem training into your program design. Many groups
> believe this is a critical component of a business training program for
> low-income entrepreneurs (I would agree with that).
>
> However, I have yet to find an organization that has developed a formal
> mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of these personal effectiveness
> programs. In essence, does this type of training increase the likelihood
> of completing the business training program and starting (and surviving in
> business)?
>
> As practitioners, are you aware of an organization, microenterprise or
> other, that measures the effectiveness of personal development program or
> has developed criteria to measure outcomes. Thanks for your help!
> ================================================== =================
> Jason J. Friedman, Vice-President
> Institute for Social and Economic Development (ISED)
> 1901 Broadway, Suite 313
> Iowa City, Iowa 52240
> Voice: 319-338-2331 Ext. 24 Fax: 319-338-5824
>
> 1998 Winner of the Presidential Award for
> Excellence in Microenterprise Development
>
> " Iowans Save!"
> Iowa's Statewide Individual Development Account (IDA) Program
>
>
>
>


************************************************** ***
Jennie Popp
Assistant Professor
Department of Agricultural Economics and AgriBusiness
221 Agriculture Building
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
(Phone) 501-575-2279
(Fax) 501-575-5306
(Email) jhpopp@comp.uark.edu
************************************************** ***



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