Training in Las Mercedes (Take 3)

Las Mercedes Training Class - ready for the next step

The thing about working with businesses is that if you do your job well, you're never finished.  The whole line about "working yourself out of a job" never applies.  I could write a great story about how the last of 3 training visits to Las Mercedes was completed (finished) two weeks ago, but the truth is that I'm thinking more about the 8 business plans that those training participants already sent, the visit another participant is going to make to Quito next week to work with us directly on his plan, and the 7 or more other people who are calling Edwin at least once a week with questions about details of what they learned in the business training class.  So I can tell a little about the training, but the important thing is what comes next.

Working on conference planning a couple years back, I ran in the question of what follow up means.  For a conference, the responsibility is next to nothing.  Each participant decides herself what to do with her learnings.  However, as an organization that focuses on business development, we make it our business to follow up with participants to help them put what they learned into practice.  As a caveat, we still have much to learn ourselves and in practice, follow up is difficult.  However, that is exactly what we are doing with the training group in Las Mercedes.

Working on activities in groups

During the last training session, the participants divided up into groups according to the sector they work in--pig farming, dairy farming, mechanics, and commerce--and they have been working together to write down their plans for their businesses.  Since Las Mercedes is so far from where we are based in Quito (a 45 minute flight and then a 3 hour drive), the ability of participants to reinforce the ideas of the training for each other is essential.

At the same time, the wonders of email allow them to send their business plans, and in the next trip to Las Mercedes in April, Edwin and a board member will be able to visit their businesses and talk through their plans to help them form realistic goals and continue improving their businesses and farms.

And after that, there will definitely be more follow up work.  More questions, more decisions to consult on.  The truth is that unless a business fails, there are always new challenges and opportunities to consider, and as long as a business owner wants to consult with us in making decisions, we have a job to do.  And that's a good thing.