Policy Issue:
SMEs represent the majority of existing businesses and often a large proportion of national employment and income creation. A large amount of resources is allocated to programs that support SMEs but only a few rigorous studies evaluate their impact on business’ performance and job creation. Most existing studies find that low take-up rates can be due to misperceptions, and often dismiss factors like inspiration, motivation or implementation.
Clube do Empreendedor (CE) is an innovative approach that reduces the costs to convey knowledge on tools and business practices to entrepreneurs using an electronic platform. Ultimately if the intervention approach displays its value in terms of firm survival, job creation, income and firm productivity, this kind of instrument can become an effective policy that can be easily replicated in other countries or scaled-up to a national level. One policy implication would be that provision of information about the benefits of improved businesses practices can be a powerful tool to increase adoption of good practices and improve performance.