Small and medium enterprises are a major source of jobs and enterprise across East Africa and the wider continent, yet many never grow beyond the size their founder can personally supervise. The barriers are rarely the product. They are informal financial records, prices set by guesswork, cash tied up in stock and debtors, and an organisation in which every decision still passes through one person.

The Owner-Manager and SME Growth Programme Training Course gives business owners a structured week away from operations to plan the next stage of their company. It opens with a candid diagnosis of the current business model and growth options, then works through financial control, pricing and profitability, sales and customer development, building and leading a team, and preparing the business for external finance. The final day pulls these strands into a written growth plan with milestones and measures.

The programme is taught by practitioners who have advised and run SMEs, using participants' own businesses as the main case material wherever possible. Short inputs are followed by exercises on real numbers, peer clinics in which owners test ideas on one another, and templates that can be put to work the following Monday.

On completing the programme, owner-managers will be able to:

• Diagnose the strengths, constraints and growth options of their current business model.
• Analyse gross margin, overheads and break-even to identify the most profitable products and customers.
• Prepare a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast and manage debtors, creditors and stock.
• Set prices using cost, value and competitor information rather than habit.
• Delegate responsibilities through clear roles, job descriptions and simple performance routines.
• Compare debt, equity, grant and supplier finance options against the needs of the business.
• Construct a written growth plan with targets, milestones and monthly management indicators.

Designed for people who own or run growing businesses, it suits:

• Founders and owner-managers of small and medium enterprises
• Managing directors and general managers of family-owned companies
• Second-generation successors preparing to take over a family business
• Franchisees and distributors planning to expand into new territories
• Partners in professional service firms such as consultancies, clinics and accounting practices
• Owners of agribusiness, manufacturing, retail and hospitality businesses
• Business development officers at SME support programmes, incubators and banks
• Women and youth entrepreneurs moving from micro to small enterprise

Owners return to their businesses with:

• A one-page growth plan with a three-year direction and 90-day priorities.
• A 13-week cash flow template populated with their own figures.
• A product and customer profitability analysis showing where margin is made and lost.
• A revised organisation chart and delegation plan that frees the owner from routine approvals.
• A funding readiness checklist and outline pitch for lenders or investors.
• A monthly dashboard of the six to eight numbers that matter most to their business.

Learning is anchored in participants' own companies, through:

• Short practitioner briefings on finance, pricing, people and funding
• Workshops where owners analyse their own accounts, prices and organisation charts
• Peer clinics in which small groups challenge each other's growth assumptions
• Spreadsheet templates for cash flow, margin analysis and dashboards
• A closing presentation of each participant's growth plan

Owner-managers who take part in every session and complete the business planning exercises are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.