An Analysis of Training Program Data

Transcription

1 MicroTest Performance FY 2005 An Analysis of Training Program Data Welcome to a summary analysis and presentation of selected MicroTest program performance statistics for FY2005. The data were collected in 2006, from 69 MicroTest member microenterprise development organizations. The report is broadly organized around the AEO Numeric Microenterprise Accreditation Standards. In addition, additional information is provided around program scale and self-sufficiency two subjects of considerable interest among practitioners within the field. Generally, statistics are presented in multiple ways. First, the statistics will often be presented in summary, using standard statistical summary values of mean, median, minimum, and maximum. Next, a chart will graphically show the distribution of values among the participating programs. Finally, in some cases, the connections between statistics will be shown using statistical correlations. In addition, in selective cases the statistics are presented according to different subsets of programs, to illustrate different approaches or perspectives among programs.

2 Training Program Analysis Industry Comparisons: MicroTest Summary Statistics and Distributions AEO Numeric Accreditation Standards for Training Programs Scale, efficiency, effectiveness (Training program graduation rate, Business Plan completion rate) Program Self-Sufficiency is of industry-wide interest 2 Training programs offer business management training and technical assistance to program clients. That assistance can be pre-business before a business is opened. Pre-business assistance is usually in the form of helping the client figure out if their business idea is viable, that they ve gone through the proper due diligence, and/or to help determine if they themselves are prepared for business ownership. Other forms of assistance help clients after they open a business, usually in the form of helping to formalize an existing (often home-based) business, helping to stabilize a business in trouble, or helping an entrepreneur to significantly grow their business and take it to the next level. The AEO accreditation standards evaluate training programs by looking at the scale, graduation and business plan completion rates, and the efficiency of operations. Some of these standards will vary, depending upon the geography served by the program. Also included in this analysis is understanding the self-sufficiency of the training program.

3 Training Programs 42 (61%) MT programs describe themselves as Training-Led Programs 64 (93%) of MT programs report clients receiving BD training or TA 14,876 (80%) of clients are reported to have received BD training or TA The total cost of providing business development training and TA services for FY2005 is $17,816,317 (n= 50) 3 Almost all programs offer training or TA services, and although we don t have the precise statistic to show it (our statistic here only looks at BD services), from the work we ve done with client outcomes data we ve seen that virtually all clients receive these services.

4 AEO Numeric Accreditation Standards for Training Program Scale Rural programs should serve at least 75 BD clients in a fiscal year Urban programs should serve at least 100 BD clients in a fiscal year Dual area (urban and rural) programs should serve at least 150 BD clients in a fiscal year 4 The AEO Accreditation Standards vary by the geography served for training program scale. 61% of training programs (39/64 programs providing business development services) met this standard. One programs did not have sufficient data for the measure.

5 Clients Receiving Business Development Training or Technical Assistance All Credit-led Training-led Urban Rural Dual Area State-wide AEO Std Mean Low High 1,348 1, , Sum 14,876 6,367 8,509 4,628 1,641 5,509 3,098 N The standards for scale are as follows: Rural programs should serve at least 75 BD clients Urban programs should serve at least 100 BD clients Dual area programs should serve at least 150 BD clients The majority of the programs meet and exceed the highest standard for urban and rural programs. However, fewer than half of the dual-area (serving both urban and rural area) programs met the standard in Fy2005.

6 BD Clients and Methodology < Credit-led Training-led 6 Here is the distribution of program sizes. Again we see ski-slope distribution with most programs clustered around the smaller categories, and then a smaller number of programs extending into larger scale. Methodology seems to matter less here than size of the program overall, with credit-led programs being among the largest, and most programs offering BD training and TA services.

7 Cost per BD Client All Credit-led Training-led Low-Income Focused Moderate - Income Focused AEO Std $1,800 Mean $1,305 $655 $1,817 $1,158 $1,352 $1,329 $936 $1,806 $1,204 $1,494 Low $79 $79 $182 $79 $476 High $5,018 $2,644 $5,018 $5,018 $3,768 N Here are the summary statistics for the cost per business development client. The AEO accreditation standard is $1,800 or less. The mean and average for trainingled programs are very close to this standard. 55% of training programs (29/53) met this standard. Four programs out of 53 (8%) had insufficient data for the measure. An additional 11 programs reported through MicroTest Intermediary and were not required to report the cost per BD client measure.

8 Cost per BD Client by Methodology <$500 $500 => $1000 $1000 => $1500 $1500 => $2000 $2000 => $2500 $2500 => $3000 $3000 => $3500 $3500 => $4000 $4000 => $4500 $4500 => $5000 >$5000 Credit-led Training-led 8 Here is the distribution. Comparatively credit-led programs are more consistent than training-led programs at keeping costs low. Some training-led programs have very high cost per client rates.

9 Cost per BD Client and Low-Income Focus <$500 $500 => $1000 $1000 => $1500 $1500 => $2000 $2000 => $2500 $2500 => $3000 $3000 => $3500 $3500 => $4000 $4000 => $4500 $4500 => $5000 >$5000 Low -Income Focused Moderate-Income Focused 9 One piece of conventional wisdom in the field is that very low income clients require more extensive business development services. The summary statistics confirmed this view, where we saw higher mean and median rates for low-income focused programs. However, the above distribution shows that, except for a single outlier, low-income focused programs actually have a very similar cost per BD client ratios to moderate-income focused programs.

10 Training Program Completions Measure of training program effectiveness 11,375 (76%) of BD clients were enrolled in a training course with a graduation requirement in FY (79%) of training-led programs, and 15 (71%) of credit-led programs had training courses with a graduation requirement 10 Training program effectiveness is measured through training program graduation and business plan completion rates. Here we see that most BD clients attend training courses that have a graduation requirement.

11 Training Program Completion Rates Al l Credit-led Training-led AEO Std 75% Mean 75% 73% 76% 82% 82% 81% Low 27% 27% 32% High 100% 100% 100% N The AEO accreditation standard for training program completion is 75%. More than half of training programs with a graduation requirement (63%, or 30/48 programs) met this requirement. One program did not have sufficient data to calculate this measure.

12 Training Program Completions and Methodology Credit-led Training-led <10 % 10% 20% 20% 30% 30% 40% 40% 50% 50 % 60% 60% 70% 70% 80% 80% 90% 90% 12 Here is the distribution.

13 Business Plan Completions Measure of training program effectiveness 8,240 (55%) of BD clients are involved in training activities that are expected to result in the completion of a business plan 29 (69%) of training-led programs, and 12 (57%) of credit-led programs had training courses that were expected to result in a business plan 13 More than half of business development clients are in training activities that are expected to result in a completed business plan.

14 Business Plan Completions Al l Credit-led Training-led AEO Std 75% Mean 69% 73% 69% 67% 73% 65% Low 19% 20% 19% High 100% 100% 100% N The AEO accreditation standard for business plan completions is 75%. Approximately 39% (16/41) of the programs with a training course expecting to result in a business plan met this standard. Three programs did not have sufficient data to determine compliance.

15 Business Plan Completions by Methodology <10% 10% 20% 20% 30% 30% 40% 40% 50% 50% 60% 60% 70% 70% 80% 80% 90% 90% Credit-led Training -led 15 Here is the distribution.

16 Training Program Cost Recovery Percent n Mean 5.9% 1.7% Low 0.0% 49 High 44.6% Generally, training programs are not recovering a significant percentage of program costs through client fees.

17 Training Program Cost Recovery % 0% - 5% 5% - 10% 10% - 15% 15% -20% 20% - 25% 25% - 30% 30% - 35% 35% - 40% >= 40% 17 Here is the distribution. 10 (20%) programs have %0 cost recovery. The largest group, containing 19 programs (39%), recovers at least a portion of their costs from client fees, but that amounts to less than 5% of training program costs.

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