Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces Recruitment for Participants in the 'Small Business Capacity Building Project'

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced on the 22nd that it is recruiting small business owners to participate in the '2022 Small Business Capacity Building Project' (consulting), which helps solve management difficulties faced by small business owners with the help of professionals.

The Small Business Capacity Building Project is a program that provides customized consulting using management and technical experts to strengthen the competitiveness of small business owners and prospective entrepreneurs who are experiencing management difficulties or seeking management innovation.

Starting this year, the program has been reorganized to move away from the uniform method where consultants registered with the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS) provided up to four consultations regardless of the management level of the small business owner, allowing for tailored support.

First, consulting specialized institutions in each region use their own management diagnosis tools to assess the management status of small business owners, then determine the consultant, consulting field, duration, etc., based on the results, and proceed with the consulting.

Consulting, which was previously conducted in a simple manner, has been improved by forming teams composed of experts in various fields such as management, investment and financing, digital transformation, and patents to provide consulting on complex management issues.

After consulting, the voucher amount that can be used to realize management improvement ideas has been increased from the previous maximum of 2 million KRW to 3 million KRW to enhance the effectiveness of the project.

The participation fields include ▲ ‘Emergency Management Consulting’ which provides rapid management diagnosis to business operators experiencing management difficulties ▲ ‘Creative Fostering Consulting’ which offers advice on management improvement ideas ▲ and ‘Free Legal Support Project’ which supports attorney fees for commercial civil cases.

In the case of ‘Emergency Management Consulting,’ participants bear 10% of the cost, but simplified taxpayers, prospective entrepreneurs, those who have been in business for less than one year, benevolent landlords, participants in small business startup and growth support projects, Baeknyeon Gaegae (Hundred-Year Store), and Baeknyeon Sogongin (Hundred-Year Small Business Owner) are exempt from the cost burden.

Anyone who is a prospective entrepreneur or small business owner can apply. Applications can be submitted through the official website of the ‘2022 Small Business Capacity Building Project.’ Detailed eligibility and application methods can also be found on the website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.