Small business

6.5 Special needs
Objective: To meet special needs of SMEs.
In all of the areas of potential business support there are special needs. Examples include incubation,
technology support; the promotion of social inclusion; cross border business development; cluster support;
and so on. 
When developing support programmes in response to these needs (see Annexes 9 and 10), it is
important to use best international practice and check that existing models are likely to lead to desirable
outcomes in the long term. Attempts to base networks and cluster development on the Northern Italian
model have had a very mixed experience. The UK Local Enterprise Agency model which has been
transferred to a number of transition economies has not as yet proved wholly sustainable in its own
environment. Financial sustainability may be another issue, as in the case of many incubation programmes.
EFFECTIVE POLICIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS - © OECD 2004
6. Programme Development 
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International and bilateral agencies such as the ILO and GTZ have developed training approaches to business start up
and growth processes, which they have internationalised. Such programmes are usually accompanied by a training the
trainers programme as a vehicle for extending good practice and process across the country.  The Morosov Project in Russia
in the 1990s had the similar objective of developing the capacity of agents at the local level throughout the country to deliver
effective programme modules.
Adapting existing models to the highly differentiated SME market for services is the key to effectiveness
(see Section 6.6). Standardised programme development has its limits unless agents have the ability to adjust
their product on the basis of a needs analysis, and manage and evaluate the programme on that basis.