2013

The Benefit of Basic Business Education for Young Micro-Borrowers

Name: Nuhamin Tollossa Academic Affiliation: Richland Community College

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Abstract As microcredit helps the world rethink the fight against poverty- innovating new ways to eradicate poverty-the lack of small business education on behalf of borrowers has transformed todays microcredit programs into mere charity. Without the basis of knowledge which addresses both the background basics of small business education and borrowers mental attitude-in which he/she can see their business-the positive results that microcredit can bring to our economy can be minor. Even the most organized microcredit programs lack the ability to help borrowers be self-sustaining in their small business. Without a background education of how to run a business, borrowers are dependent on micro-lenders to sustain the business, thereby losing the main goal of microcredit which is to create independence. A background business education which looks at basic accounting, basic understanding of our economy, understanding of business management, and a concise business plan that not only looks ahead five years but helps the borrower see him/herself as the business, is essential for the efficiency of all microcredit programs.

Key words: Microcredit, Accounting, Business Management, Economics, Intro to Business, Entrepreneurship, Homeless Mentality

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The Benefit of Basic Business Education for Young Micro-Borrowers By definition according to the Microcredit Summit adopted on February 2nd 4th, 1997 Microcredit is a programmers way of extending small loans to very poor people for selfemployment projects that generate income; allowing the poor to care of themselves and their families. Microcredit stemmed from the famine of Bangladesh in 1974, as a way to combat the cycle of poverty that women were experiencing in the small towns of Jobra, Bangladeseh. The idea of self-employment and independence had a better appeal to founder and pioneer Dr. Muhammad Yunus than trying to give away spare change to the poor. The main goal of microcredit is to create independence. However, the problems of microcredit arise when borrowers do not make good use of the money they have received, due to their lack of basic financial and business management skills. Even more problematic is the lack of a systematic education that provides core business classes for all borrowers to follow. Although microcredit has been hailed as the new way to aid world hunger, the lack of basic business education including economics, business management, basic accounting, and the lack of a tangible business plan on behalf of the borrower has redefined microcredit from the aid for self-employment into a type of charity; as small microcredit business doors close faster than they open. The History of Microcredit The idea behind the Garmman Bank started with a plan for a program that would address the famine of 1974 in Bangladesh. The famine began with a press release from the prime minister of Bangladesh; the famine was the result of internal and external political turmoil, unstable food situations, and a flood that managed to ruin two successive rice crops. (Bairagi,

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1986) The poor continue to remain in their broken state and in a never ending cycle of poverty because as much as economist noticed the absence of entitlement for the poor, they failed to look deeper into the root causes behind the problem that is poverty.(Yunus 35) The more the famine continued to get worse, the harder the problem of poverty propelled Dr. Yunus to find the root cause of the problem. Although the previous answer to poverty had been to give someone money to buy food or other necessities, Dr. Yunus longed to create a lasting way for the poor to generate their own income. It was not enough to give someone change from the bottom of a purse; the change to eradicate poverty had to not only be effective, but lasting as well. He wanted to create real change in the lives of the poor, rather than giving away spare change from his pockets that would only create momentary and un-lasting change in their lives. Dr. Yunus came to this revelation while talking with a local Jobra village women who was in the state of poverty. I resisted the urge to give Sufiya money she needed. She was not asking for charity. And giving one person twenty-two cents was not addressing the problem on any permanent basis.( Yunus 48 His first move to eradicate hunger was to study the poor through the question of who was the poor. (Yunus 34) He developed a scale with which to categorize the poor. The scale which he invented involved three groups: p1- the bottom 20 percent of the population, p2bottom thirty five percent of the population, and p3- the bottom 50 percent of the population. (Yunus 41) A closer look at the poor in Bangladesh revealed an astounding fact! Although the landowners in Bangladesh had been affected by the drought and were considered poor, those without a land and without a home-grouped in p1 of Dr. Yunuss poverty scale- were in a worse situation than any of the land owning farmers of Bangladesh. Using this scale Dr. Yunus was able to find the right group of people to start his microcredit project.

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Dr. Yunus further research into the lives of the P1 group revealing the root problem behind the poverty of the improvised women in the village of Jobra, Bangladesh. The problem was that each woman faced unproductive and inefficient loans from the Paikar. The Paikar, the middleman for each loan was responsible for loaning five takas to women who crafted handmade bamboo stools for a living. Each bamboo for their stool cost a total of five taka, and each stool was sold at five taka and fifty poysha. (Yunus47) To give a reader of an understanding of this amount of money five taka is equivalent to $0.06 in United States, and a poysha is 1/100 of one taka. These women made a profit of 2/100 of a taka for each stool they made and sold. Not only were the profits not sufficient enough to support these women and their families, but also the interest rate managed to rob even the little they had. Interest amounts required by the Paikar would be as much as ten percent per week. Understanding the hardship these women faced, Dr. Yunus started a lending program, acting as a guarantee for the bank, for each loan made. Each loan had a required repayment of one taka every day to lighten the burden of repayment; in addition the borrower had to join a support group, a group of likeminded people who would provide not only support for one another, but also soothe out erratic behavior patterns of individual members, making each member more reliable in the process.(Yunus 62) Each borrow must also take seven day training on our policies, and demonstrate their understanding in oral examination administrated by senior bank officials. (Yunus 63) The education process in the first micro-lending program was background education on policies of the bank, and requirement for repayment, etc. This was a key factor for every lender to understand what they were getting into and their responsibility as a borrower. This key factor has become a declining trend in microcredit programs as further advancements are made within the field.

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Todays Microcredit Today microcredit has reshaped itself with the changing of modern times, even meeting the need for microcredit through the web (Coleman, 2007). Each microcredit program method and education has been shaped according to the need of each community, giving the process of microcredit more variety than consistency. The basis of the microcredit problem can be found in this variety because it lacks a concise and organizaed education that each borrower must go through. The lack of an organized background in business education given to each borrower brings disarray even upon the most organized microcredit programs. The idea behind the need of education isnt for the benefit of bank lenders themselves, but the borrowers who while able to start a business might be ignorant as to how to maintain it. Microcredit has given the world a different form of eradicating poverty, but it did not organize a way in which to do it. This lack of instruction given to the borrowers themselves, which would entail how to effectively use money from a loan and how to maintain small business and how grow it, has caused a gap in the difference that each loan can make in borrowers lives. A borrower may start a small business to help generate a form of income with the help of a micro-lender and the staff of a microcredit program, but if the borrower is unable to sustain that business independently, then the goal of microcredit- to move the poor towards independence- is lost. Moreover the idea of an education in microcredit should address the way that each borrower sees his/herself; ultimately addressing the attitude they would have when venturing out in the process of growing their business. To understand a community level program that addresses the thinking process of poverty one should look through the doors of Dallas LIFE. Dallas LIFE- a homeless shelter in Downtown Dallas is a homeless shelter with life changing programs which help men and women move towards independence and self-sustainment. Just as Dr. Yunus uses the concept creating real

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change instead of giving away spare change idea, Dallas LIFE has made that their motto. Walking into Dallas LIFE homeless shelter you are greeted by men and women who work for stipend pay as security by the door. They work to live at the homeless shelter while going through life transforming classes that teaches them the basics of living independently. The hardest thing to teach the homeless men and women at Dallas LIFE is not how to build a resume or Microsoft Classes, but rather to teach them how to reevaluate their perspective about life in order to change it. Homelessness is as much a mental state as it is a physical state. The problem of homelessness is the poverty in America that microcredit tries to eradicate. The staggering increase of homelessness is an elephant in the United States economy that most have tried to ignore. According to the 2008 U.S. Conference of Mayor Studies the top three verified causes of homelessness have been the lack of affordable housing, poverty, and unemployment. (Diaz, 2008) Looking at these three causes, it is simple to attribute unemployment as the root cause behind the other two. Behind the unemployment problem lies the closed doors of small businesses who have a foreclosed signs or worse, are no longer in business. Small businesses which are responsible for over 60 million jobs in the United States according to The National Economic Council and the loss of these small businesses are indubitably the reason behind the steadily declining job availability in the economy. (Council, 2012) The driving force behind the economy of the United States is the open doors of small business firms. So why arent we creating more open doors with entrepreneurs who can save our economy, and why are bankers so opposed to the idea of microcredit? The answer to these questions can be summed up into two words, bad credit. Bad credit in America is considered to be a credit score of 400-600. Although these problems and answers are more complex than how they are summed up in the last sentence, the gist of these problems

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are the same regardless. Professor Christophe Villa and Researcher Nurmie-Khammad Yusupov at Chair Banque Populaire Audencia Nantes School of Management, authors of Focus on Microlending Contract states, Exclusion of the poor by the banks is largely due to the absence of collateral and high costs (Villa 2010) The idea of microcredit is to finance the poor without physical collateral and with a joint liability loan. Each payment on every loan is made by a group with four or more business partners who keep each other accountable. Moreover, the idea behind the humble beginnings of micro lending involved some type of education for borrowers to effectively, and efficiently put to use the small increment loans and insure the guarantee of a repayment. Dr. Yunus had to not only intact education program which tested borrowers understanding of their responsibility at the bank, but he had to make sure borrowers sought to see themselves in a different perspective, in order to achieve success. The perspective of the poor or or homeless who seek the help of microcredit is different than an entrepreneur. Dallas LIFE addresses this perspective of life as a homeless mentality; the inability to move beyond the thinking capacity of a homeless man/women, into that of an independent man. The road away from a homeless mentality is the hardest thing to learn. The lack of microcredit to effectively address the move from a homeless mentality or a dependent state of mind is another problem that can be addressed with the proper microcredit education. Money is only the beginning of the problem to a man in poverty; education for management of the money, how to effectively run a business, and how to see themselves as an entrepreneur is the next problem. What most microcredit programs fail to focus on is the lack of small business education behind poverty, while micro creditors proceed to fill the hands of poverty with small increments of money to start its own business. This is where the critics lose the idea of microcredit. One such critic is professor and teacher Rashmi Dyal-Chand of Northern

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University School of law, who focuses on property law, poverty and economic development. She expressed her criticism for the lack of education in micro lending in an article she wrote titled the Pitfall of Micro-lending. Even the most established micro-lending programs have yet to prove that micro-lending is more successful than welfare-style programs in lifting people permanently out of poverty Even the most successful microfinance programs are unable to sustain themselves without additional aid. Like any other development strategy, micro lending for the purpose of developing small businesses is a complicated endeavor that requires a localized understanding of the particular economic, cultural, and social factors affecting entrepreneurial success. (Dyal-Chand, 2005)

To address the problem of poverty on a more permanent basis then, the goal of microcredit should not to be solely focused on getting borrowers into a business, but helping them understand the tools to help them maintain it. Unemployment in our economy is not going to be solved with one small business opening its doors which lasts for three or four years but rather by group of small business doors that open and expand lasting 20 or more years. According to the office of Advocacy, the 2009 census showed an estimate 25.5 billion small businesses firms are in the United States; at least 65 percent or 9.8 out of 15 million jobs were generated by these small firms between 1993 and 2009. (Administration) Although this seems like the solution to our economy, a closer look reveals that a 10% turnover rate of these small businesses in the United States has a more hazardous result on our economy more than it produces a solution. An estimated 552,600 new employer firms opened for business in 2009, and an estimate 660,900 firms closed. This amounts to an annual turnover of about 10 percent.

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(Administration) Writer of the New York Times, Jay Goltez, addresses the reasons behind failed businesses in his article Top Ten Reasons Small Businesses Fail stating, One of the least understood aspects of entrepreneurship is why small businesses fail, and theres a simple reason for the confusion: Most of the evidence comes from the entrepreneurs themselves. (Goltez, 2011) The problem isnt the economy, or the nation, the problem of small business failure can be attributed first and foremost to the business owner themselves. A smart entrepreneur with knowledge of business is able to navigate through the storms of any economy, while a business owner who had a great idea for a business might falter and fall in the middle of the storm.

Dr. Yunus understood the concept behind the importance of education in the efforts to eradicate hunger and poverty through microcredit. The start of the first microcredit efforts included bank employees who would travel to small towns and meet with lenders to teach about finance management and small business management. (Yunus, 1999) The poor with whom Dr. Yunus started the microcredit project with were the ones who were ignorant of business tactics. They lived to make it to tomorrow and worked for minimum profit with maximum input because they knew no better. Dr. Yunus didnt just have to start a bank willing to finance the poor in Bangladesh; he had to also find a solution to the idea of educating women in a small village needing to learn how to make a better living.

Small increments of money to those who do not know what to do with it, is nothing but charity. The idea expressed by Rashmi Dyal-Chand based on research of the Garmmen Bank. According to studies by anthropologist Aminur Rahman and reporter Helen Todd (both of whom studied the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh) and a world-wide study of microcredit sponsored by Oxfam, micro-lenders regularly fail to help people attain permanent self-

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employment, (Dyal-Chand, 2005) Not everyone can become an entrepreneur, but an entrepreneur can come from anywhere. Although microcredit has grasped this concept of a great entrepreneur can come from anywhere, microcredit has over the years neglected to see the fact that not everyone can become an entrepreneur, some simply have to learn. As microcredit grows and becomes global, the first concern shouldnt be to make finance available to everyone without concern for education. Even the most corrupt non-profit charity accomplishes this idea- but rather a lasting and prominent solution to poverty that can be created with a financial and educational solution as a joint relationship in a solution for a better world. The idea of a microcredit class for borrowers arises from the problems behind the failed small businesses addressed in Jay Goltez of the New York Times article for Top Ten Reasons Why Small Businesses Fail and from the top four pre-requisite classes for all business majors in a university. Jay Goltez article can be summed up into the lack of knowledge or application in four categories of business, the proper understanding of economics, proper understanding of basic accounting, business management, and the lack of or poor and inefficient business plan. Consequently the four classes that are pre-requisites of a business major are economics, accounting, business management, and business plan. These four categories of business are not only essential for a business; they are the knowledge behind business owners who have small business firms that last longer than five years. Microcredit is not a movement that helps support the romantic idea of entrepreneurs who are their own boss. Without an understanding of consumer demands, financial and managerial accounting, a proper understanding of the business world through understanding of economics, a concise business plan, and a clear and innovative idea, an entrepreneur is really just a person with an idea. Although romanticized about entrepreneur aint for the faint-of-heart.

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Increasingly well-educated healthy and environmentally-conscious population will stimulate and support a continuing flow of new industrial and consumer business opportunities that are compatible with the worldwide realities of the times. ( Brandt 7) The problem of micro-lending programs today is the lack of these well educated borrowers who will move on to make great business men and women in the future. Providing finance without the educational background of borrowers is putting a bandage to an otherwise serious wound.

Importance of education in micro-lending

Having the skills to manage a business is a learning process and while traditional entrepreneurs might learn from their past failures and success or colleges, borrowers of microcredit have no way of learning these things. A traditional college student who is a business major must take prerequisites and recommended classes that will be applied in some way or form in their business classes. All business majors take both financial and managerial accounting, micro and maco economics and an introduction to business class which gives a brief introduction on all sections of business which includes business management and a business plan. The idea behind a core study course for borrowers of microcredit comes from these core classes that college students must take. Each of these classes play an important role in the education process of a business major, which is why each of these core courses should be deemed a necessity for all borrowers. The importance of each course is further described in this paper with interview with teachers who give brief reasons for why each is important.

Accounting

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Accounting is defined as the language of business. More precisely accounting is a system of maintaining records of a companys operation and communication that information to decision makers. (Spiceland 4) The earliest form of accounting started in Mesopotamia where records were kept for agricultural products that were produced and delivered to others. Today accounting serves the purpose of keeping records of a company as well as being a form of communication between internal managers and external investors. (Spiceland 2011) Business transactions and information within a small business is recorded through a process known as bookkeeping and entries into a financial statement.

The importance of understanding bookkeeping and financial statement is for both decision-making and for further expansion. Bookkeeping in a small business is essential for understanding where money in the business is going, and or how to manage it better. Financial statements, which are reports generated for outside investors are important for micro-borrowers to understand in order to seek out larger loans from a bank. With self-sufficiency of a small business comes growth, and growth requires a larger loan than microcredit could offers. Business owners expanding their business would have to seek out external investors such as their family, friends, and the bank. A proper financial statement displaying the small businesses assets, liabilities, and equity is necessary in order for investors to understand the risk of that business.

The three basic statements that would be included in an introduction to accounting cumulative class would be the, income statement, statement of cash flows, and a balance sheet. A basic understanding of the income statement will help business man/women analyzing both revenue and expenses in order to get to net operating income for a given period. (Profit =Revenue-Total expenses) The balance sheet will aid a small business owner categorize assets

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and liabilities in order to apprehend the equity of the business. Statement of cash flows measure activities involving cash receipts and cash payments. Reflecting a companys operating, investing, and financing activities. (Spiceland P.130) The basic knowledge of these things can be acquired from a financial accounting, class which is a prerequisite for all business majors.

Basic managerial accounting-which is the second accounting class and a prerequisite for all business majors- helps managers make effective and efficient goals, plans, and decisions that will help manage a small business. Understanding fixed costs, variable costs, and the desired profit helps managers properly plan for quantity production or amount of services a small business needs to provide in a given period-to make profit and cover costs. Managerial accounting addresses the planning, controlling, and decision making of a business for all managers to know. (Peter C. Brewer, 2012) An important tool in managerial accounting is Cost-Volume-Analysis (CVP) which is a powerful tool that helps managers understand the relationship among cost, volume, and profit. (Brewer 188) Analyzing five factors like selling prices, sales volume, unit variable costs, total fixed costs, and mix products sold is necessary for a manager to understand how the change in these factors would affect profit of the business. (Peter C. Brewer, 2012) Simply stated, understanding CVP helps in identifying the causes and effects of changes that could affect business profitability. For example, an increase in production could mean an increase in fixed costs, or variable labor costs which would affect the net operating income of that given period. In order to cover both fixed and variable costs of the business -and still acquire the desired profit- a business manager would have to understand CVP analysis and the amount of fixed and variable costs incurred in his or her company.

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An interview with Robyn Robertson, a visiting scholar and accounting professor at Richland College reveals understanding basic accounting can become very useful to a business. When asked why it is important for a business owner to understand accounting she simply answers, Accounting is the language of business. It is how they will communicate with business investors and the bank. (Robertson, 2012) In fact, the basic aspect Prof. Robertson wishes all students to understand at the end of her class is not theories and principles of accounting, but rather how accounting is applicable to the real world. Its not about memorizing the equation, it is the basic understanding of the principle. Accounting helps a student look at the bigger picture and I want students to see how accounting is applied to business. The real world application of accounting in the business comes from the understanding of these (accounting) theories and concepts says Robertson. Professor Robertson, who was exposed to accounting at a younger age, was able to apply basic high school level accounting knowledge to help her dads business. With help from her father and her high school accounting classes, Robertson was able to become the bookkeeper of her fathers small business, helping him keep records and information of that business.

The goal of a cumulative microcredit class, which requires the understanding of accounting, isnt necessarily going to ask each student to memorize every theory and concept of accounting. Rather it will teach students the basics of accounting to help them further their business understanding. Basic knowledge of accounting will not only help micro-borrowers understand the business language, but also how to see the bigger picture in learning principles and theories of accounting.

Economics

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The study of economics can best be summarized as the study of the allocation of resources. In short economics can be seen as the science behind the business. It is the study of supply and demand, the way business work, and how price effects demand etc. Although most business majors fail to see the importance of an economic understanding within the field, a cumulative business class main goal and focus is to connect it to the everyday aspects of a business.

To develop an economic way of thinking in an everyday setting of a business, a student has to analyze the most efficient way to function in the business. Efficiency in a business is acquired when the maximum utility (satisfaction) is gained form the given input. Using the tools of economics-which are presented in the first pages of an macroeconomic book from Dr. Sharrow- such as rational analysis, marginal analysis, economic cost analysis, and variable analysis, one can better understand the need for economics.

Rational analyses is the analysis of the logical patterns, this aids in better understanding customers. For example, if a customer buys two or more products when the price is lower, but does not buy the product or buys less of that product when the price increases, we can analyze the change and say the customer is elastic (sensitive) to price change for that product. Understanding this elasticity for a business owner aids in setting up prices for service and products. Marginal Aalysis takes into consideration the input and output. Marginal (additional) utility (satisfaction) or marginal productions are derived from analyzing the additional input and the benefit of that input and the satisfaction and efficiency it yields.

Opportunity cost of the business comes from the resources a business would have to give up in order to use another resource. For example, when a business owner chooses to pick one

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advertising agency over another, the opportunity cost would be the service they would have received from the other advertising agency and the price they would have offered. In choosing one resource, businesses have to forgo another. This analysis helps a business owner take into consideration the options for the business, and choosing the most efficient and effective option for the growth of that business. Variable analysis takes into consideration the relationship between interacting variables within a business. For example, if a business chooses to produce a product at a higher quality, they would have to buy better products, thus increasing material costs, thus increasing variable costs, and increasing expenses. Economist takes into consideration one variable at a time in order to understand the effects of that variables change.

In the establishment of a business plan that makes the business personal to a microborrower the understanding of economics is very essential to a student. Using rational analysis a student would have to consider the benefit of costs, risks involved in a particular action, as well as the resources that they could use to get to a goal. (Newbury, 2009) Marginal analysis can determine the additional utility and efficiency in a goal and a plan. (a goal like completing school as a business major) Opportunity cost analysis helps them analyze the benefit of two or more options, and aid in the selection of the best option. Variable analysis helps in understanding the effects of change for one variable in their goal.

Business Management

The idea behind management is to plan, organize, lead and motivate, and control. These four functions of a business are not only essential but crucial to the survival of a business. Management can be summarized as the process of using three most important resources of an organization, human, financial and informational resources, to achieve a set goal of an

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organization. A manager of a business is responsible for planning, creating the mission statement, strategically planning the process of the business and establishing goals and objectives that a business should reach. The job of managing a business goes further, taking responsibilities for these things for one quarter of a business, and into taking responsibility and continuously keeping track and managing these things as well. With planning, managers would have to learn to create a contingency plan that will provide an alternative course of action that will arrive at the same goal.

In order to get to a set goal and objective, however, there has to be a set of organized steps that a business must take. This part of the management organizes the possible steps to take in order to achieve a goal; this involves the owner of a business as well as assistant managers who are in charge of specific functions of that business. The organization process is effective in helping a manager understand the people that will make the goal possible as well as the steps that each person or division needs to follow in order to get to a concrete goal. With a set goal in mind, after organizing possible ways to get to a plan a manager is responsible to motivate and lead the team to that goal. This can be done through a process of reward system or guiding process that allows for analysis of responsibilities on behalf of the manager. Because human resources will be the most important aspect of a business in a small business, understanding employees and different ways to motivate and guide them is essential. This type of understanding not only establishes communication with managers and employees, but also creates a relationship as well. Human resources is the biggest asset of a small business; managing employees and having a relationship with them could make the difference between a failed business and a business that is going to expand.

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With all three functions of management mentioned above, controlling ongoing activities is something that is necessary in all aspect of management. Management should be effective enough to have a holistic understanding of what is going on in the overall business, and the key problems and solutions. Management is one of the key leadership roles in a business; a great manager could grow a business, whereas a bad manager could lead straight into bankruptcy. Managers have to identify their style of management based on their personality and their employees in order to effectively make executive decisions, control, and manage a business. Management is one of the key reasons behind the failure of a business which does not last for or more than 5 years. Understanding the concept of the four tasks of management through a cumulative business class could potentially save a business.

The benefit of learning the key points of management is not only for them to understand how a business functions, but also for them to grasp the role they would have to play as a manager. Often the idea of being an entrepreneur is fanaticized about without the understanding of the responsibility of managing the business. A proper understanding of the role that an entrepreneur would have to play as an owner is mental thing as it is a physical preparation. Young micro-borrowers have to come into a business ownership with the right understanding of their leadership role into a business, if they themselves do not understand their responsibilities as the leader of the business, it is ineffective to try and lead other employees.

Business Plan

A business plan is nothing short of a road map for the success of a business as described by Small Business of America (SBA). (SBA.gov) A simple guide from the SBA website would help any student understand the questions that a business owner would need to ask him/herself in

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order for the business to be successful. Mapping out how the service or product behind the business- prices, advertisement, funding requests, things that make that business unique, etc- are some of the things that a business owner must consider before thinking about putting a business in action.. Business plans are not only essential to the start of a business, but the maintaining of it as well. A traditional business plan would map out about five years in advance, and would organize ways that a business would reach goals set up for the five upcoming years. This helps the business think about the future which is something that most owners fail to do.

Much like management, a business plan can be used for planning, organizing, and as a benchmark for evaluating the position a business should be within a given year. The importance behind a business plan is in its ability to help the owner look ahead to not only make profit in the given year, but also make profit for coming years, as well as ways to help reach and help the community.

More than a plan of action however, a cumulative business plan unit for micro-borrowers should address the way micro-borrowers see themselves. At the end of the class a microborrower should be able to identify themselves as the business. I am the business is a mentality that will not only help a micro-borrower change the way they evaluate the business, but also the potential they see within themselves. As stated above, the homeless mentality or a negative mentality is derived from the life experience of a micro-borrower and can affect the way he/she runs the business. Reflecting upon themselves as the business will help a micro-borrower think differently about the business and the way it should be handled. Instead of thinking about the business as an external goal to be reached, a mciro-borrower can have a sense of internal investment in the business.

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With this idea of a business plan, micro-borrowers would ask themselves different sets of questions. These questions would look at the other three core courses that they would have learned through the entirety of the class and use that knowledge to put it into one concise plan. A student would have to think about budgeting, planning, controlling, resources that he/she must use, the opportunity cost that not only applies to the business, but also that personally applies to the owner to make his/her dream come true. This way of analyzing a business helps a microborrower invest in themselves before they can ever invest in a business. The most important thing that a micro-borrower can do is to believe in themselves, before they can ever believe in their business.

End Product Having the skills to manage a business is a learning process and while traditional entrepreneurs might learn from their past failures and success or colleges, borrowers of microcredit have no way of learning these things. A traditional college student who is a business major must take prerequisites and recommended classes that will be applied in some way or form in their business classes. All business majors take both financial and managerial accounting, micro and macroeconomics and an introduction to business class, which gives a brief introduction on all sections of business that includes business management and a business plan. The idea behind a core study course for borrowers of microcredit comes from these core classes that college students must take. Each of these classes play an important role in the education process of a business major, which is why each of these core courses should be deemed a necessity for all borrowers. Having this education process enacted into a microcredit program

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could not only provide efficiency, it could be the difference between a closed small business door and an open one. The end product that I want to bring to life surrounds this idea for a business education. A curriculum composed of basic economics, accounting, business management, and business plan are the main idea of the solution to the problem proposed above. The end product is made possible by various accounting, economic, and introduction to business teachers at Richland College. This idea envisions a guide for all microcredit programs to have an organized form of education to all incoming young borrowers in hopes that incoming microcredit business owners are not ignorant about business. A six weeks cumulative class at Dallas LIFE homeless shelter with young future microborrowers will put the business curriculum into action effectively. The idea behind selecting young teens from a homeless shelter is to get the teens at Dallas LIFE to understand their potential and peruse their dream. I want them to learn more than business curriculum at the end of the business class, I want them to understand how to believe in themselves, how to plan the steps to get to a goal, and how to manage and control their progress through the process of reaching their goal. The process of microcredit is more than just a loan to the poor to start their own business, it is a way to fix an economy, a way for the poor to see the potential in themselves, and a way out of dependency for those who have no hope left. I hope to accomplish this task one day thorough microcredit, but until then if I can make a difference in one teens perspective of themselves and their goal, I believe I am on my way towards my goal.

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Bibliography
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