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Informal entrepreneurs are most likely to grow sustainably when support addresses the barriers their businesses actually face—not when they are offered training or credit in isolation. Depending on the country, sector and stage of the business, that can mean a mix of accessible finance, practical business advice, skills, customers and functioning markets, supportive rules and basic services, and protection against shocks. There is no evidence-based universal package or single best intervention for every entrepreneur.
Why does sustainable growth require more than business training?
An entrepreneur may know how to manage a business and still be held back by unreliable infrastructure, difficult regulation, limited access to customers or unsuitable financial services. Conversely, credit alone may not help if the business cannot reach a market or manage a downturn. Support works best when it responds to the enterprise’s binding constraints and fits the local environment.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) describes an inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem as a network of interrelated factors: the business and policy environment, finance and business-development services, human capital, entrepreneurial culture, and accessible, functioning markets. Its informal-enterprise work considers action at policy, intermediary and enterprise levels, with country examples in Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Solomon Islands. The ILO project page gives a duration ending 31 May 2026; that date does not establish that the project remains active.
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| Support area | What it can address | What to check locally |
|---|---|---|
| Business environment and basic services | Regulatory barriers, limited public services and infrastructure that constrain productivity. | Which rules or service gaps affect this business, and whether local authorities or support organizations can help reduce the obstacle. |
| Suitable financial services | Limited access to capital and a mismatch between enterprise needs and services offered by established financial providers. | Total cost, repayment timing, collateral or guarantees, flexibility and the consequences if income falls. The ILO evidence supports better-fitting services, not a universal recommendation to borrow. |
| Business and financial skills | Gaps in entrepreneurship, financial literacy, marketing, business development or digital technology. | Whether training addresses a real need in the entrepreneur’s sector and is connected to practical advice or other support. |
| Markets and business-development services | Difficulty reaching customers, participating in supply chains or getting useful business advice. | Whether the service is accessible, relevant to the local sector and likely to connect the business with actual customers or market opportunities. |
| Resilience and decent work | Exposure to downturns and the risk that lost income pushes workers into hardship when social protection, health insurance or pensions are absent. | How the business and its workers can manage shocks, and whether available protections and working conditions support security as the enterprise grows. |
| Collective organization, where appropriate | For some groups, social-and-solidarity-economy organizations can pool resources, reduce risk, strengthen representation and improve access to markets, finance, procurement or social security. | Whether joining or forming a group suits the people involved, their sector and local circumstances. It is an option, not a requirement for every entrepreneur. |
How can an entrepreneur choose among local support options?
Start with the obstacle that most limits the business now, then compare available services against that need. The ILO’s ecosystem approach supports locally grounded choices; the sources do not establish a global ranking or a universal scoring system.
#1 Best Overall
- Name the constraint. Is the main problem cash flow, skills, finding customers, a regulatory barrier, unreliable services or vulnerability to shocks? Separate the immediate issue from symptoms that may have another cause.
- Check the fit. Ask whether the support matches the enterprise’s sector, stage and actual needs, and whether the entrepreneur can access it. Consider relevant constraints such as gender, age or refugee status rather than assuming entrepreneurs have equal access to goods and services.
- Compare the practical terms. For finance, weigh total cost, repayment timing, guarantees, flexibility and downside risk. For training or business advice, check its relevance, delivery and connection to markets or complementary services.
- Consider resilience and workers. Look beyond sales or expansion: ask how the plan affects the security and working conditions of the people behind the enterprise, and what happens if business income drops.
- Look for a coherent combination. If one service cannot remove the constraint alone, check whether finance, skills, market links or other locally available support can work together. Do not assume that adding more services automatically makes a package better; each should address a need.
Where can simple digital tools help—and where can they not?
The ILO includes digital technology among possible capacity-building areas, alongside entrepreneurship, financial literacy, marketing and business development. For an entrepreneur who has access to a suitable phone or computer, basic digital record-keeping or communication may be useful when it solves a real operational problem. Its value depends on the business and local conditions; technology cannot by itself fix unsuitable regulations, weak infrastructure, unaffordable finance or a lack of customers.
A practical starting point is to keep regular records of business income, costs and money owed, using a paper ledger or a digital tool the entrepreneur can access and maintain. Those records can make it easier to discuss cash flow with an adviser or compare financing terms. This is a practical application of financial literacy, not a substitute for local business-development services or financial advice.
Rank #2
What do program results show—and what do they not show?
The World Bank’s State of Economic Inclusion Report 2024: Pathways to Scale, summarized in a 20 November 2024 release, estimated that economic-inclusion programs reached about 10% of approximately 700 million people living in extreme poverty—just over 70 million people across 88 countries. Such programs can combine cash transfers, skills training, business capital, coaching and market access. This is an estimate about people reached by economic-inclusion programs, not a statistic about all informal entrepreneurs.
The World Bank release also summarizes particular program examples: in Zambia, consumption increased 19%, business profits rose 45%, and costs were recovered within 12 months; in Niger, consumption increased 15% and business revenue doubled for women. These are results from named program settings, not expected effects for other places or populations.
Rank #3
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World Bank Global Director for Social Protection Iffath Sharif said there is strong evidence of significant impacts of economic-inclusion programs on food security, consumption and income. The same 20 November 2024 release attributes to Sharif the view that programs implemented through government systems can be highly cost-effective and yield high returns on investment. That claim concerns this kind of delivery and should not be treated as a guarantee for every program design.
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