BPN - What we do

Promoting small entrepreneurs. Sustainable links between Swiss know-how and local development to combat poverty.

BPN

The BPN (Business Professionals Network) foundation, based in Switzerland, has been active since 1999 and is active in 6 countries: Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Rwanda and Uganda.

We support small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in our partner countries with the aim of securing and creating jobs in the long term and thus contributing to local economic development.

Our values

We act fairly, attentively and transparently. This forms the basis for a trusting and successful collaboration.

BPN supports entrepreneurs regardless of their culture and religion. We are politically and religiously neutral.

We listen, question, inspire, educate and think along with you. This is how we help entrepreneurs move forward.

We act with foresight, build on relationships and strive for success together.

We encourage people to leave their comfort zone, look at problems from a different perspective and try out new things. This is how we learn and constantly improve.

3 pillars for sustainable success

Based on our values, BPN uses the 3-pillar principle to help small businesses in developing and emerging countries to grow and create new jobs.

Development

The BPN program lasts 2 years and includes all the central modules of corporate management in differentiated training blocks. However, the program is not limited to the mere transfer of knowledge, but aims to bring about a change in behaviour from which the participants can benefit in the long term. Existing structures in the companies are to be strengthened in the local context.

We often stay in contact with the entrepreneurs even after they have successfully completed the program and continue to support their development if desired. Numerous success stories show the developments the entrepreneurs go through and the results they can achieve. Here you will find some video portraits of such developments:

https://bpn.ch/videos/

Coaching & Consulting

Entrepreneurs go through different phases in their development. This is why BPN adapts the coaching to the individual needs and stage of development of the entrepreneur.

BPN offers 2 different types of consulting for this purpose: Business Advisory (specialist advice) and Executive Coaching. The coaching is integrated into the various interactions with the entrepreneurs during the BPN program. In this way, a close relationship is built up with the participants.

However, BPN coaching is not only an effective support for the duration of the BPN program, but is also a proven instrument for getting to know each other and also for the necessary selection process even before the program begins.

Business Owners' Association

BPN supports local entrepreneurs in setting up a business owners' association.

This serves the exchange of experiences and takes care of economic and social concerns of other SMEs in the country. BPN promotes the formation of these networks with know-how, motivation, content and organisational support.

Members of the association (BPN alumni) also receive a loan on fair terms (usually between CHF 2,000 and 20,000) for the purchase of production machinery or additional equipment if there is a proven need.

Training

As a rule, participants have already been running an SME for several years. BPN therefore focuses specifically on business management training in order to close any knowledge gaps that still exist. For this reason, BPN has developed a training program that includes seminars, webinars, workshops and time for exchange.

Topics include project and time management, financial planning and control, law, leadership and personnel development. Additional seminars on specific topics such as social media, customer care, etc. are also offered from time to time.
The seminars, webinars, workshops, etc. are held locally by our Country Directors and local BPN employees.

The BPN program lasts 2 years and includes all key modules of business administration in differentiated training blocks.

The training programs are not free of charge - the participants make a contribution, albeit a moderate one, for the seminars.

Success in numbers

The success shows: On average, companies are able to increase the number of jobs by 30% during the BPN program, create higher quality jobs and increase their added value. One job can provide asecure income for an entire family.

More successes in numbers and stories can be found in our > Impact Report.

The figures relate to all BPN partner countries since the company was founded.

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BPN from the perspective of donor & entrepreneur

René Zbinden is a long-standing BPN supporter

Ritah was a program participant in Rwanda and makes children's toys

SMES: THE EFFECTIVE RECIPE FOR
PROSPERITY - WORLDWIDE

Experiences, the attitude to life, a clear idea, conviction and perseverance: All these aspects preceded the founding of the Business Professionals Network. Just like the awareness that a serious voluntary activity demands an enormous amount - but also gives back an enormous amount.

Jürg Opprecht
*May 9, 1950; † July 13, 2021

Jürg Opprecht founded the BPN Foundation in 1999. What moved and drove him in the process can be read here in his own words.

" When I visited Kyrgyzstan for the first time in 1997, under the impression of omnipresent hardship and unemployment, the desire to help these people arose in me. But how? Donations too often get bogged down in bureaucracy. Too little ultimately gets to where it is really needed..."

So there had to be a better way. As an entrepreneur, I focus on profitability and sustainability. Both arise from individual responsibility - based on initiative, innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. This gave rise to the idea of launching a lean organization with flat hierarchies that would act as a bridge-builder , "exporting" something of the powerhouse of Switzerland as a success model - and that is undoubtedly the SMEs . Now, more than 25 years after the birth of the BPN idea, we know that this model works very well.

With the support of hundreds of Swiss personalities and managers from small and large companies as well as our enthusiastic teams in Switzerland and the countries of operation, we "produce" help for self-help hundreds of times a day in accordance with the 3-pillar principle.

BPN turns motivated and talented craftspeople and tradespeople into entrepreneurs, who in turn have created and continue to create tens of thousands of solid jobs. In this way, we stand for an economy that encourages people to think ahead - beyond the narrow confines of everyday working life.

We are extremely grateful for this lasting and truly fulfilling success, because we give a lot - and we also get a lot back. I invite you: "Surf" through our website, get informed and inspired, get in touch with us and become part of the Business Professionals Network - it ' s worth it !

Thank you very much!"

Supporting entrepreneurs with BPN is simple and straightforward.