Handing a small loan to someone with a promising business idea feels like the generous, direct thing to do. In practice, we've learned it works far better when a short training on business basics comes first.
Our small business basics training covers simple costing, so a participant actually knows whether their pricing covers their costs, basic record-keeping so income and expenses aren't just tracked from memory, and a short discussion of common pitfalls, mixing business and household funds chief among them.
Only participants who complete the training are considered for the modest loans our table-banking groups are able to offer. It's a small filter, but it noticeably improves how many of the businesses we support are still operating a year later.