Services being offered include up-front business training; specialized technical assistance; mentoring programs; sector-specific advice and support; networking opportunities; coordinated sales and marketing programs; and the development of formal links with banks, local community colleges, and other institutions (Edgcomb and Klein, 2005). Of course, many start-up businesses don't make it; that's an inescapable aspect of the risks that small business entrepreneurs face.
But the services provided by microenterprise programs offer borrowers a strong foundation in the fundamentals of running a business and give their businesses a better chance to grow and flourish in a competitive marketplace. These services benefit the lender by making the borrowers more creditworthy, but providing these services to budding entrepreneurs is labor intensive and requires considerable expertise.