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FIELD at Aspen


The Aspen Institute and the Corporation for Enterprise Development were the catalyst for the industry. The FIELD division of the Aspen Institute has been the research arm of the Micro Enterprise industry since its inception. FIELD has been instrumental in measuring the value of Micro Enterprise development work.

Areas of Interest:

Client Outcomes
Microenterprise Industry in the U.S.
Microfinance
Microenterprise Services
Funder Guide Series

Client Outcomes

Micro Jobs, Fast Facts (October 2011)
This Trendlines fact sheet graphically explores key questions about U.S. microenterprise jobs. Data on the number of jobs, wages, paid workers, and part-time/full-time job status are presented. The fact sheet summarizes the experience of entrepreneurs in 2009 surveyed by 21 microenterprise programs in 2010.

Job Creation in Microenterprise Development: 2009 Client Outcomes (August 2010)
This issue in the FIELD Trendlines series, using data collected by MicroTest members through the client outcomes survey process, explores employment generated by microenterprises, for both the owner as well as other paid workers. New job figures as well as net jobs figures are reported. And, the part-time/full-time work status of both owners and paid workers is examined, along with the wages paid to owners and paid workers.

At the Five Year Mark: Outcomes Reported by US Microenterprise Clients (March 2010)
This special report funded by the Citi Foundation explores outcomes reported by clients five years after engaging with a microenterprise program. Key questions are explored using MicroTest client outcomes survey data such as business start and survival rates, how business revenues and owner’s draw change over time, and what type of employment is generated.  The report also includes a section on implications for practitioners.

Business Start and Survivability: 2008 MicroTest Outcomes (August 2009)
This report examines factors affecting business start rates and explores the sectors, revenues and part-time and full-time status of surviving businesses.

Microentrepreneurs and their Businesses: 2008 MicroTest Outcomes (March 2009)
This report summarizes data such as business start and survivability, business growth, job creation and retention, business contribution to the household and health insurance. Future issues will explore each of these topics in-depth.

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Microenterprise Industry in the U.S.

Sustaining the Delivery of Business Development Services” offers strategies and practices for mobilizing funding for microenterprise training services. It shares insights on how large-scale training organizations pursue resource mobilization and cost recovery to sustain delivery of services over the long term. Read the report or listen to the webinar.

The case study, Scaling Business Development Services through Distance Learning, profiles the experiences and lessons WESST has learned in developing distance-learning services to assist entrepreneurs across New Mexico. You can also listen to a recorded webinar on WESST’s distance learning experience.

Micro Jobs, Fast Facts (October 2011)
This Trendlines fact sheet graphically explores key questions about U.S. microenterprise jobs. Data on the number of jobs, wages, paid workers, and part-time/full-time job status are presented. The fact sheet summarizes the experience of entrepreneurs in 2009 surveyed by 21 microenterprise programs in 2010.

Data Highlights From Recent U.S. Microenterprise Census (July 2010)
A seven-page brief provides updated quantitative information on the scope, scale and evolution of the industry. Clear text and simple graphics help answer the most frequently-asked questions about the U.S. microenterprise industry.

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Microfinance

A Newly Crowded Marketplace: How For-Profit Lenders are Serving Microentrepreneurs (2011)
White paper begins to describe the landscape of for-profit microlenders in the U.S. It looks at several emerging for-profit companies that have grown their portfolios significantly during the recession.

Key Data on the Scale of Microlending in the U.S. (2011)
Drawn from data collected during the 2009 U.S. Microenterprise Census that collected FY2008 data, this report seeks to better understand lending institutions and the financial products that they offer. The report then compares the largest lenders to smaller lenders to draw out additional trends and information.

Surviving the Recession: How Microlenders are Coping with Changing Demand, Risk and Funding (July 2010)
This fact sheet probes recent as well as historical data on microlending to track the evolution of demand for microloans, changes in risk to microloan portfolios and trends in capital and budget adequacy. This issue of FIELD’s Trendlines series uses data from MicroTest and the Opportunity Finance Network’s market conditions survey to explore how the twin forces of recession and financial crises affect microlenders in the U.S.

Dollars for Dreams: Scaling Microlending in the United States (2010)
FIELD’s latest publication discusses the experiences of five leading microfinance organizations, which participate in the Scale Academy for Microenterprise Development. It summarizes various strategies and tactics used by these lenders – including, among others, market research and marketing, new loan product development, structure and staffing, and identifying recession-ready strategies – to increase their microlending, even in the face of recent financial crises.

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Microenterprise Services

Innovating to Scale (2011)
This short publication summarizes large and small innovations adopted by members of the Scale Academy for Microenterprise Development to scale their services and reach more clients. It describes changes in core processes, products and services, partnerships and other practices and includes links to other resources.

Focused on Growth: Scaling Business Development Services in the United States (September 2010)
This publication is the latest in a series based on the experiences of members of the Scale Academy for Microenterprise Development, an effort to support innovative, effective scale-up strategies. This document explores experiences and lessons from six Academy members around their efforts to increase capacity for and growth of their business development services.

Dollars for Dreams: Scaling Microlending in the United States (2010)
FIELD’s latest publication discusses the experiences of five leading microfinance organizations, which participate in the Scale Academy for Microenterprise Development. It summarizes various strategies and tactics used by these lenders – including, among others, market research and marketing, new loan product development, structure and staffing, and identifying recession-ready strategies – to increase their microlending, even in the face of recent financial crisis.

Moving the Micro Enterprise Field Forward: Priorities, Strategies and Roles (2009)
This white paper summarizes discussions by Micro Enterprise leaders who met in early 2009 to explore ways to strengthen and expand the industry, in light of the opportunities presented by the advent of new presidential and congressional leadership and by a changing economy. In addition to pinpointing a set of priority strategies needed to respond to today’s environment, participants also identified – and committed to – specific action steps to advance the field’s progress. Those strategies and actions are detailed in the paper. In addition to attending the meeting, participants used a wiki to share ideas and comments that are summarized in a supplemental document.

Opening Opportunities, Building Ownership: Fulfilling the Promise of Micro Enterprise in the United States (2005)
This publication takes a comprehensive look at the now 20-year-old Micro Enterprise field — its accomplishments, weaknesses and future potential. It describes the current economic context for self employment; explores the development and performance of the industry; examines the value of Micro Enterprise to low-income Americans; and concludes by recommending eight directions that can help transform the industry and position it for long-term growth and sustainability. Download the Executive Summary.

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Funder Guide Series

Funding the Work: Why Funders should support Micro Enterprise development organizations (MDOs)?

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