Basic business management for small family planning businesses

The training was provided to 240 private sector members of the Ghana Registered Midwives Association. Under a contract with John Snow/The Enterprise Program, MDPI first assessed the business management training needs of the midwives and then developed and delivered a three-day basic business management training course and a two-day refresher course. The highest priority needs were basic accounting, business planning, and financial decisionmaking. This manual is an adaptation of the materials used during the course and provided to the participants as take-home references. Following this adaptation, the manual was field tested with 8-10 participants in each of three countries -- the Dominican Republic, Kenya, and Philippines. Field test participants represented a mix of midwives, N.60 trainers, accountants, and owners and managers of maternity homes and clinics. Results of the field test provided a basis upon which to make final revisions. This manual is designed for owners and managers of maternity homes, clinics, and other small health service delivery organizations that provide family planning services. It explains in simple terms the essentials of basic accounting, business planning, and financial decisionmaking that every manager needs to know to run a successful business. The manual assumes a basic knowledge of arithmetic, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and percentiles. (Author abstract)