Getting Down to Business! Training in Small Business Skills in Papua New Guinea Case Study Click on either of these two links for further information: Teacher's Notes   Student Activities Like most countries in the world today, Papua New Guinea is trying to create enough jobs for its people so that they can be productive citizens and be able to support themselves and their families with a decent income. The majority of Papua New Guinea's 4.3 million people live and work in the countryside and have mostly supported themselves and their families through farming and agricultural activities such as vegetable growing, pig raising and tree crops. Unfortunately demand for agricultural products from Papua New Guinea is not as high as it once was in the past. This means that many ordinary people relying solely on selling their agricultural products for income are not able to earn enough money this way. They need other jobs. As well as this situation, young people who are completing their education and attempting to enter the workforce in Papua New Guinea are finding that there are no jobs available. The latest figures estimate that there is only one job available for every five people looking for work. The effects of unemployment Unemployment is one of the urgent problems facing the people of Papua New Guinea. When people don't have work, they can't earn an income. Without income, a person doesn't have the money to buy necessary food or clothing, afford medical expenses, repair their home when needed or educate their children. Through no fault of their own, jobless people can't buy what they need and they are forced to live in poverty. Creating work through small business Creating jobs has therefore become very important for the Government of Papua New Guinea. Its neighbours, such as Australia, want to assist Papua New Guinea in their efforts to develop their economy and support their growing workforce. One of the ways to create more jobs and boost family income is to help people to start their own small business. Starting a small business can also provide jobs for other people needing work and improve economic activity. Helping small businesses to begin and grow has been found to be a useful way to improve a poor economy. Australian assistance Before setting up and running a small business, people need to learn particular skills and understand what is involved in being a small business operator. Australian help is ensuring that people interested in establishing or maintaining a small business in Papua New Guinea have the necessary training in small business skills. The Australian Government funded training program called the Start Your Business (SYB)/Improve Your Business (IYB) Project, helps interested villagers and townspeople to identify small business opportunities. It also helps them to get the skills to run a small business. The SYB/IYB training package has been developed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is used in more than 70 countries around the world. As a result of Australian help, 68 SYB training courses and 26 IYB training courses have been run in Papua New Guinea from September 1996 - September 1998. Start your business/improve your business project components A lot of preparation is involved in the project: training materials to use in the classes such as worksheets, information booklets, activities and exercises are developed to make sure they will be understood by rural people in Papua New Guinea; local Papua New Guinea trainers are trained so they can teach the skills and knowledge to villagers over 10 days; the actual classes are taught in four regions of Papua New Guinea: the Highlands, Momase, New Guinea Islands and the southern/National Capital District. The training workshops Who can apply to be in the training classes? Anyone who would like to run a business or is already running one and wants to make it more successful can take part in the classes. They must be able to read and write in simple English and be able to do simple Mathematics such as subtraction, addition and division and working out percentages etc. What do people learn? During the training, participants look closely at their strengths and weaknesses to determine if they are in a good position to start a business. The classes comprise 10 steps: Step 1: Am I the type of person who would be good at running a small business? Step 2: What type of business could I run? Step 3: Who would be my customers? What other businesses would I be competing with for customers? How will I promote and advertise my business? Step 4: Where and how will I run the business? Will I have employees? What type of employees? Step 5: What laws do I need to know about to run the business? Step 6: What are my responsibilities such as employing staff, paying tax etc? Step 7: How do I know what price to put on my product or service? How much cash money will I need to make sure comes in each week or month? How do I keep records of my sales? Step 8: How much money will I need to start the business? How do I get a bank loan to start the business? Step 9: What will I need to plan before I start the business and when I'm running the business? Step 10: What will I need to ensure happens on every day and/ week in the business?   Top © Commonwealth of Australia