SIYB helps tsunami affected businesses

Thousands of tsunami-affected entrepreneurs have received accredited business management training under the brand of “Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB)” organized by the SIYB Association. These entrepreneurs have benefited by receiving business start-ups or business improvement training in which the application of better business practices such as business planning, record keeping, costing, marketing, stock control, and buying were imparted to enable them to establish their financial goals, according to a SIYB press release.
The training was provided by the ILO certified SIYB trainers.

The SIYB training is specially designed for adult learning and the entrepreneurs gained an in depth knowledge on how to re-start the business or how to improve the business and to support them to introduce new knowledge into practice in their own business. The SIYB training is being undertaken through partnerships with the International Labour Organization, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL) and World Vision. The support schemes such as supply of equipment, grants and loans, and marketing linkages provided by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and FCCISL were able to add value to the training to regain the business. 2240 entrepreneurs had made excellent progress by attending the SIYB training.

Jayantha Abeyaratne Project Manager, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, said the training was helpful for the entrepreneurs to re-structure their business in a focused manner and set up a benchmark to monitor the progress of their business, which was a lacking factor in any enterprise at this level.

Sam Stembo, Project Director of Back-to-Business project of the FCCISL, pointed out that the business plan drawn up at the 5-day SIYB training had helped to manage their business systematically and also to apply for a loan to any financial institution.
According to the Chief Executive Officer Ms. Swarnamali Abeysuriya of the SIYB Association of Sri Lanka (an affiliate of the global ILO-SIYB program), the SIYB training provided for affected businesses had helped not only to restart or build back their businesses but also to carry them out in a more viable manner.