Opening Opportunities, Building Ownership: Fulfilling the Promise of Microenterprise in the United States

This guide offers a comprehensive look at the strengths and weaknesses of the microenterprise field, and urges the industry to become more efficient. The guide states that:

• The microenterprise field is relatively young in the United States;
• Microenterprise programs provide business training, technical assistance and small loans to traditionally under-served populations;
• The forces that encourage self-employment include:
  • Decline in the number of livable wage jobs;
  • Erosion of the social safety net;
  • Growing number of immigrants.
• Significant achievements of the microenterprise field in the last decade include the following demonstrations:
  • Credit-led programs can be run effectively, efficiently and with a high degree of self-sufficiency;
  • Training programs can help emerging entrepreneurs gain business skills and start and expand business;
  • There is an increase in the income, assets and empowerment of clients over time.
• Challenges to the field include:
  • The continued subsidization of training and technical assistance services;
  • Low program cost recovery;
  • Slow progress towards self-sufficiency;
  • Lack of outreach.
• For the microenterprise field to solve the twin challenges of scale and sustainability, it will have to make changes in the design and delivery of products and services.

The report recommends actions to position the field for long term growth and sustainability. It concludes that as it moves into the next decade, the microenterprise industry must continue to learn to innovate and stretch its capacity.