The program extends for 12 months, the diagram below gives an illustration of the program in its various stages:

1. Announcement Sharakah together with BP Oman will hold a press conference to announce the program in the local media followed by a social media campaign. Interested candidates will be asked to register at a dedicated website.

2. Registration Interested candidates will be requested to register at the prescribed website. The registration process will take two steps as follows:

A) Step 1: registering of Business name, owner, email and contact information. Candidates who successfully complete this step will be redirected to step 2.

B) Step 2: candidates will be requested to fill in additional information like the type of service or products they offer, location of the business, average revenue and more. The candidates will also be requested to send by email certain documents like their financials and business plans.

The registration will be open for a period of 4 weeks extendible. Reminders will be announced on social media to encourage potential candidates to register.

3. Filtration

The first filtration will take place at the registration phase itself. Those who could not complete the registration process will automatically be disqualified for Step 2. Those who fail to provide the required documents will also be disqualified.

The selection criteria that will be applied for the candidates who have successfully completed step 2. include:

A) Type of industry: preference will be given to companies in manufacturing or services sector.

B) Business size based on revenue.

C) Business size based on number of employees.

D) Geographical Location. Applications will be accepted from all over the Sultanate, but preference will be given to SMEs from the governorates of Ad Dakhiliyah and Ad Dhahirah.

E) Willingness to provide information and take action.

F) willingness to commit for 12 months

4. . Agreement.

Prior to initiating the document collection and evaluation process, selected candidates will have to sign an agreement with Sharakah stating that they will cooperate towards providing the required information and accepting Sharakah’s recommendation for business improvement.

5. . Documents Collection and Review

20 selected SMEs will be requested to submit the following documents whichever applicable / possible:

A) Business Plan

B) Audited Financials

C) Updated cash flow

D) Marketing strategy

E) All Registration Certificates (MOCI, OCCI, Municipality ... etc.)

F) Copies of all policies (HR Manual, HSE Policy… etc.)

G) Any signed contracts with third parties

The concerned officer will conduct an initial assessment of the business using the information and documents provided. The assessment will follow a systematic approach using the (BPMT) tool described below.

6. Site Visit and Assessment

The concerned officer will inform the business owner of his/her intention to visit the business premises for further analysis and to conduct an interview with staff and the business owner. The assessment process might take 1-2 days depending on the business location and size of operations.

The following tools will be used in the assessment process:

A) Business Performance Monitoring Tool (BPMT)

BPMT is a tool developed by Sharakah to offer a systematic approach for assessing business performance. The tool looks at the industry best practices and evaluates each SME against set of standards. This offers a complete 360 degrees view of the business current status and identifies areas for improvement.

B) Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats (SWOT) Analysis:

A detailed and thorough SWOT analysis that deals with the internal and external factors of the business will be prepared. The analysis will cover both the favorable and unfavorable factors.

7.Suggestions for Improvement

Sharakah will prepare a report prescribing the status of the business. Suggestions for improvements will be given in 7 general areas by experts in the field. These areas include (Administration, Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Product/Service Quality and Policies).

8.Monitoring Progress

Based on the Report’s outcome, Sharakah will prepare an Action Plan. The Action Plan will be for a period of 12 months and the business will be assessed again at the end of the period. During the 12 months period, Sharakah will:

A) Educate and help the business owner to prepare an annual budget

B) Develop a marketing plan for the business

C) Promote the business via traditional and online media

D) Introduce the business owner to potential corporate clients (wherever applicable)

E) Review the financial performance of the business and provide advice F) If any need for technical improvement or technical / power audit is needed, will recommend and connect the company to suitable agency

G) Encourage and guide the SME to register for competitions and awards

H) Pave way for training opportunities outside Oman

9.Grant Disbursement

Based on the areas that need development, Sharakah will suggest actions for improvement. These actions might include rebranding the business, execute a marketing campaign, getting a financial system or implementing a quality system.

BP has allocated a grant for each of the businesses to be used for improvement. The amount shall be disbursed to 3rd party organizations and suppliers who will provide the services to the selected candidates.

10. Second and Final Assessment

Sharakah will conduct the second and final assessment of the business to identify developmental changes that have taken place in the last 12 months.