In July 2014, COMESA-Leather and Leather Products Institute (COMESA/LLPI) crafted a Strategy for Ethio-International Footwear Cluster Cooperative (EIFCCOS) through a participatory process. The strategy was subsequently validated on 30th September 2014. The Assessment which was undertaken as part of the strategy formulation process identified that the majority of SMEs were setting the price of four of their five footwear models at a loss. This problem was trussed to their limited capacity to keep financial records, under- costing and pricing. To address this gap, COMESA/LLPI organized training on Costing, Pricing and Business Record keeping for SMEs working under EIFCCOS from 17th to 21st November 2014 at the Ethiopian Management Institute, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The main objective of the training was to enhance the business management skills of SMEs owners in order to run their footwear manufacturing business in an efficient, effective and profitable way. Specific objectives of this training were as follows;
- To implant an entrepreneurial mindset and understanding in the importance and principles of Business Record Keeping,
- To strengthen their capacity in keeping track of money owed to the business,
- To develop their knowledge how to manage and separate private/family money from that of their businesses,
- To enhance their understanding in the concepts of costing methods and cost allocation,
- To develop their knowledge in the importance of pricing and relevant market structures and
- To make them apply the concepts in their decision making exercises.
The training methodology was consisting of lectures and sharing of experiences followed by discussions and group work. A total of 76 SMEs were trained.
In order to enhance the uptake of the skills learnt, COMESA/LLPI would visit the SMEs once per month, beginning January 2015, for six months. The visits would focus on review of the SMEs financial records and assessing their costing and pricing practices.
Dr Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, Executive Director of the COMESA/LLPI, in his closing speech during the certificate award ceremony, congratulated the trainees and motivated them to exercise the theoretical and practical knowledge and skill gained through the training.