OPERATIONS – RISE Centres
Training events
The training events targets our RISE members and is free of charge for them, as one of the benefits from paying membership fee.
RISE Centres may want to develop a joint power point presentation, benefiting from the information available on HR&S website, and new information that they introduce to the team. The RISE operations team PR officer is in charge of the launching of training events.
Locate a host for the start-up phase.
Arrange with good internet and computers, as well as IT training.
Bi-annual ROPE training
by HR&S Sweden
In September and January. The training events targets our RISE members and is free of charge for them, as one of the benefits from paying membership fee. Then also non-members are invited who pays a fee, this fee is a direct income to the RISE Centres, EUR 20 for non members (EUR 10 for students and non-employed). The focus of the biannual RISE training events are the members, arrangements are made to also serve non-members.
The annual events starts at the different RISE Centres and the team of operations are responsible for the planning and the implementation. The arrangements and lessons learned are discussed in the team-leader chat. The reason why it has to be separate is because the different businesses are very different, and we need to understand each entrepreneur as a family member, to be able to help in actual practice.
meetings with all RISE members every second month
RISEtalks
The meeting addresses knowledge-sharing and support between RISE members, discussion on the capital available for loans and the distribution of the capital between the members. Pay-pack periods to ensure funds are available for all members for the follow-up loans as well as generating the income from the interest to cover the running costs of the Centre.
Accounting
Bi-annual training on accounting by HR&S Branches. April and July. Two hours per session.
The training events targets our RISE members and is free of charge for them, as one of the benefits from paying membership fee. We invite external participants who pay EUR 5 for two training events.
1. Book keeping.
2. Advantages with bookkeeping.
3. Bookkeeping as important part of financial management .
4. Financial management, expenditure prioritization, and business growth.
A whole package of why business accounting is important.
Strategy for Change / Lean business model
Bi annual training on the SfC by the Branches for RISE members, February. June. The SfC is developed to address progress for our RISE members exactly
We do not have to focus much on the method as such in the beginning but to use it directly. We go through slowly but firmly.
First training in the year
- What do you want ? – ambition
- What are your challenges to achieve your ambition? – outcome challenges
- What can we do together to address the challenges – activity
- Who shall do what and when – milestones
Second training in the year
- Was the road-map useful? – outcome
- How do we measure progress? – progress markers
- Where do we want to reach eventually ? – sustainable impact
Infrastructure
During the pilot phase, we aim for the team leader to have good computer and internet access. We also aim for a zoom account.
Accountability management
The capital
It is important that the members has balance in their businesses. The ActionInvest capital shall not decrease as a result of members failing to pay back. The 10% interest is an income to the Centre as well as the coaching fee.
Bank account withdrawals
Withdrawal by RISE Member for business loan: The loan-taker provides a request to the RISE accountant when withdrawals are required.
Withdrawal from the bank account by a RISE Member/Loan-taker also requires authorisation by HR&S CEO and the signatures from both signatories. The withdrawal request states the purpose for the withdrawal, which programme it refers to and wich agreements it is supported by. Thus the request compiles all the costs it shall cover together with a statement presenting how the loan will be paid back and when.
Within two months after the date of the withdrawal, receipts for all costs are compiled by the loan-taker and shared with HR&S CEO and both signatories.
Procurement
When major procurements are to be done by loan-takers, the loan-taker shall request the team-leader and/or the accountant to join when the transaction is made.
Guarantee
Loan-takers provide a guarantee for the re-payment of a loan. It is still a soft loan and the guarantee stands in propotion to the business ability of the loan-taker.
Pitching
- Potential new RISE members are pitching their business to the Country RISE Centre members. The size of the present capital is discussed and how the loans is distributed between RISE members.
- Potential new RISE members are ten pitching their business to Action10 in an ActionTalk. Action10 will be involved with agreeing what to fundraise for.
- RISE members can then pitch the business to the private sector in HR&S/Visit.org events, seeking advice and also proposing a donation.
Activity ONE
Understanding of expectations
Testimony: The “help-me” narrative must change. Once the partners are made to understand the expectations from the beginning, we’ll achieve success. The bottom line is setting the expectations right from the beginning to avoid unrealistic expectations. We shall get the right partners that could be the Change Agents to show that looking for handouts is not sustainable, but creating value will bring the desired prosperity.
1. We made them realized that this money to be giving to them is a loan to be paid back.
2. The amount given out as loan will be deducted from the principal amount at source.
3. We group them according to their business and the level of funds is then meant for that category.
4. They were made to understand that they will cross reference each other in the group, that is to say that if any member of the group default in repayment, the entire group will be held accountable.
5. If they are faithful in repayment, they will be qualified for applying for a higher loan.
6. They repay the principal on a monthly basis, more groups were being added and their businesses can expand.
For the RISE member social entrepreneurs.
Each Centre has a certain amount of capital to pay out as loans. Within the Centre we will have full transparency on how loans are paid back or not.
The RISE members can support each other to pay back. And if someone is not paying back, less will be available for the others.
The interest goes to the Operation teams as reward and to the Centre to grow areas of income, for example computers and internet.
What we are targeting is the motivation to pay back. In case there is an external challenge, maybe drought for a farmer, then everyone will accept a loss of funds, even though everyone will suffer from lass capital.
Each RISE centre has an emergency fund put aside so that they can assist where needed, and the RISE Centre fundraise for the emergency fund.
Activity TWO
Collateral
- We invest in businesses that can provide assurance of repayment through provision of collateral and we must have an independent adjudicator whose role is to take care of collateral.
- We reach out to under-served populations with limited opportunities to provide collateral through our RISE members. RISE members originating from areas where collateral is limited are likely to be able to install accountability systems through maybe social awareness. This business idea builds on that, as the funds are paid back maybe weekly, it can be giving out twice. Thus the programme manager generates 20 % interest (or more), 10 for the RISE Centre and 10 for own income.
Testimony, Dec 2021: “Generally, people are never willing to repay loans if such loans were received on the premise of their morality and honesty. As a person who runs a financial services business with my sister, I know that even the most trusted and honest people will find it hard to repay loans of any amount of they have not been requested to deposit collateral.
We still need to use the funds as intended i.e. for social enterprising but we need to change the mode of financing. We may need to invest in businesses that can provide assurance of repayment through provision of collateral and we must have an independent adjudicator whose role is to take care of collateral.
We can go wide scale and announce the opportunity in public forums. And we will be able to get the right organizations to deal with. Of course after due diligence.”
Milestone
All RISE Centres implements Activity ONE and TWO starting from January 2022.