LED Quarterly Report, FY19-Q2

As of the end of the quarter, LED had 86 firms in its portfolio, with a total of 67 assisted companies. These firms have committed to investing $12 million alongside LED-supported technical assistance to help them reduce the risks of expansion under the current challenging economic conditions. LED's assistance focuses on improving quality systems, sales and marketing, franchising operations, process improvements, HR strengthening, and product development. The companies forecast that LED's assistance will help them boost their sales by $176 million. As a result, these firms have committed to creating 1,694 new jobs within two years, with 326 jobs already started. The project requires businesses to cost-share for business consulting services, which is a notable accomplishment since most other donor-funded business development projects do not require cost-sharing for technical assistance. To-date, LED has successfully leveraged approximately $2.5 million from the 67 assisted companies, representing about 22.5% of the direct costs of the consultancy fees. LED's firm-level support and other events, such as workshops on franchising, have benefited 197 individuals to-date, with 40% of them being female. The project is also embedding its know-how in the local business support ecosystem by partnering with organizations Berytech and BIAT. LED's technical activities are focused on achieving three key objectives: job creation, business enabling environment, and communication and outreach. During the quarter, LED grew its pipeline by closing deals with 23 companies, obtaining pre-approval for deals with 25 more companies, and ending the quarter with 19 deals in-process. The 23 new client companies have committed to investing $4 million alongside LED-provided technical assistance, which together will result in forecasted sales of $54 million and 552 new jobs. LED assists these firms by cost-sharing with them to hire local consultants to deliver services in a range of areas, including quality systems, marketing and sales, franchising, management systems, product development, and other areas. The project's results add to those achieved through FY19/Q1, whereby LED had closed deals with 44 businesses that committed to invest $6.6 million alongside LED-provided technical assistance, which together will result in forecasted sales of $96 million and 832 new jobs. By quarter's end, LED-assisted companies have created 326 new jobs. The project's success in securing cost-share from client firms demonstrates that companies will pay for technical assistance when they understand its value and trust that it will be delivered properly.