Project 8

MY PROJECTS

Project 8: Westerwelle Entrepreneurship SMEs’ Diagnostic – Pre and Post Assessment and Support

Overview:

The Westerwelle Start-up Haus Entrepreneurship Programme, based in Kigali, supports cohorts of Rwandan entrepreneurs through business incubation and tailored coaching. In partnership with Challenges Rwanda, the program implemented a diagnostic tool to assess participating SMEs at both the start and midpoint of the program. The goal was to identify key business capacity gaps and deliver tailored business support, helping each enterprise to move towards investment readiness and sustainable growth.

The diagnostics focused on eight business functions—Leadership, Organization, Product/Service Delivery, Financial Management, Sales, Marketing, Legal, and IT—and served as the foundation for designing relevant workshops and individualized coaching sessions.

My Role

I supported the implementation of both diagnostic cycles (2019 & 2020), contributing to:

  • Interviewing SMEs and analyzing diagnostic data across business areas
  • Generating tailored enterprise-specific scorecards and recommendations
  • Co-facilitating workshops on financial management, sales, marketing, and business strategy
  • Supporting post-diagnostic review and strategic planning for businesses and the Westerwelle program team

Key Deliverables: Diagnostic Reports (2019 & 2020), One-pager SME Action Plans, Workshop Content, Follow-up Evaluation Summary

Approach

  • Structured assessment framework scoring businesses on 8 key dimensions
  • Used in-depth interviews with founders and reviewed internal documentation
  • Designed business-specific recommendations and prioritization plans based on stage (ideation vs. operational)
  • Followed up with businesses to track progress and iterate on support needs

Techniques Used: Diagnostic Scoring Matrix (0–4 scale based on development maturity), Prioritization Grids for enterprise growth levers, Design Thinking Facilitation, SMART Goal Setting Framework

  • Tools: Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Diagnostic Interview Guides

Stakeholder Communication

  • Conducted feedback loops with Westerwelle Start-Up Haus program managers
  • Delivered one-on-one SME feedback sessions with tailored recommendations
  • Led interactive group workshops addressing shared gaps in strategy, finance, and marketing
  • Prepared internal reports to support ongoing program iteration and impact tracking

Artifacts Produced

Based on two cycles of diagnostics involving 19 SMEs, with performance tracked across both ideation-stage and early-growth-stage enterprises

Key Findings

  • Financial Management:
    • Most enterprises lacked budgeting, cost forecasting, and financial modelling capacity
    • Few had tools to calculate profit margins or assess cash flow sustainability
    • Excel was the main tool; only one business used QuickBooks
  • Sales & Marketing:
    • Absence of SMART targets and customer segmentation
    • Marketing was reactive and event-based rather than strategic
    • Many founders equated networking and social media posts with effective marketing
  • Product/Service Development:
    • Several businesses were still prototyping, hence deprioritizing other functions
    • Others had launched but needed better product-market fit analysis
    • Design thinking approaches were underutilized
  • Strategy & Leadership:
    • Most lacked documented strategy or alignment between vision and operations
    • Decisions often based on intuition rather than targets or business roadmaps
    • Over-dependence on the founder was common in early-stage ventures

Recommendations

  • Provide workshops and coaching on financial literacy, including:
    • Budget creation, pricing, and financial forecasting
    • Linking sales targets with revenue projections
  • Strengthen sales planning and marketing workshops, covering:
    • Target market definition, segmentation, and customer journey mapping
    • Sales tracking tools and performance metrics
  • Equip businesses with a simple strategic planning toolkit:
    • SMART goal setting, vision/mission alignment, and milestones
    • Encourage development of business plans and pitch decks
  • Offer tiered support, differentiating between ideation-stage and operational-stage SMEs

Establish follow-up diagnostics to monitor SME growth post-program and refine support models