Alleviation of Poverty Through Entrepreneurialism

Street Business School (SBS) is a social enterprise that strives to provide entrepreneurial education to impoverished women. The fundamental entrepreneurial teachings delivered through Street Business School, help to empower communities and provide effective guidance to the potential attainment of additional financial income through entrepreneurial ventures. SBS are a global leader in this progressive approach and has achieved considerable success in the alleviation of poverty through entrepreneurialism.

Bead For Life (BFL)

SBS is the product of the 2004 Bead For Life (BFL) initiative from Uganda. During this period, Uganda was struggling with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and war, which forced more than three-quarters of the population into extreme poverty, and surviving on less than $1 a day.

BFL was an innovative approach to help lift women out of poverty by supporting the creation of small independent and self-sustaining businesses selling jewelry. The women learned how to create jewelry beads from rolling recycled paper, and their finished jewelry products were sold as far as North America and Europe.

In total, the BFL training scheme reached nearly 8,000 Ugandan women living in poverty. The successful launch of thousands of small jewelry businesses and the subsequent revenue they generated, provided an additional source of income which allowed many of the women to lift themselves out of poverty. The BFL initiative clearly displayed that; incentivization and education in independent and sustainable entrepreneurial ventures, are a viable and effective method for the alleviation of poverty.

SBS Trainings

SBS delivers training and teaches a specially designed entrepreneurial training curriculum to women living on less than $2.90 a day. The custom-made programs instruct women living in poverty on how to successfully start and develop independent micro-businesses.

For the cost of around $50 per person, the SBS provides a three-month training, accessible irrespective of education, location and finance. The recipients receive education through many valuable models. The overarching objective of the scheme is to provide and instil knowledge in the fundamentals of business operations, and thus pave the way for future entrepreneurial endeavors, as a sustainable alleviator of poverty. The completion of the SBS curriculum led to a doubling income of women living in poverty.

SBS from Strength to Strength

SBS is now active in 37 countries and has directly provided entrepreneurial education to more than 53,000 people living in poverty, according to the 2024 report. A key component to the sustained growth of SBS is its successful partnering schemes with more than 300 NGOs and INGOs. SBS provides teaching on the delivery of their localized programmes to NGO’s. Additionally, the SBS curriculum is now also integrated within many large-scale humanitarian programs, such as BRAC’s “Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents” which supports girls with and at risk of HIV/Aids in five sub-Saharan African countries.

SBS has also been trialling a Community Teaching Based approach to the delivery of its entrepreneurial program. This utilizes community leaders as certified SBS coaches and direct deliverers of the course. This has proven to be hugely successful, as locals bring an additional innate understanding of the problems faced by those within their community. Moreover, using locals as trainers further empowers and inspires others, whilst also creating a deeper level of engagement and feeling of shared success. In 2024, SBS directly trained more than 5,000 women and 99% saw a positive change in their income within two years post-graduation, according to the 2024 report.

Positive Impacts

A tangible example of the alleviation of poverty through entrepreneurialism and the positive impact of SBS is Usher, who transformed her roadside shop with the help of SBS’s CBT programme. Usher was taught fundamental business principles including the importance of diversification, managing profits and saving.

After attending SBS training and implementing their teachings, Usher’s shop started to generate more business and improved her income. Usher is now able to better provide for her children and even plans on further expanding her business portfolio to include a mobile money shop. Usher said, “Many people have started businesses, and women have improved their lives.” Usher’s story is a testament to the positive work of SBS and proves the power of entrepreneurialism in helping to alleviate poverty.