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04/2008 Nucleus-International.net 1
How to start Nuclei
Nucleus-International.netNucleus-International.net
04/2008 Nucleus-International.net 2
1.Types of Nuclei
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Types of Nuclei
• Sector Nucleus = Vertical Nucleus– Carpenters– Bakers– Joiners– and many other branches ...
• Members offer similar products and services
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Types of Nuclei
• Topic Nucleus = Horizontal Nucleus– Exporting enterprises– Woman entrepreneurs– Company technicians for environment problems– CEFE course participants
• Members offer different products and services but share common topics / interests / problems
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Types of Nuclei
• Location Nucleus = informal Association– Entrepreneurs of a small village with an
insufficient number of entrepreneurs to found a Sector Nucleus and the next one being too far away
• Members offer different products and services but share the same location
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Types of Nuclei
• Sub nucleus – Some members of a Nucleus share special
problems or certain interests
• Temporary Nucleus– Some entrepreneurs get together
to solve a specific problem. Afterwards the Nucleus dissolves.
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Examples of Nuclei
• Farmers / Agribusiness• Automobile Workshops• Beauty Culture• Building Construction • Brassware• Commerce• Computer Hard- / Software• Cut Foliage• Electricians• Environment• Export• Food Processing (Bakeries,
Butchers, etc.)• Gem and Jewellers
• Handicraft• Hotels and Guesthouses• Leather Products Light
Engineering • Lime Production• Vegetable / Mushroom• Photographers• Printing• Radio and TV Repair• Tailoring• Tool Making• Women Entrepreneurs• Wood Industries (Saw Mills,
Plywood, Furniture, Carpentries)
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2. Criteria for the
selection of a sector
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The Start
• In the beginning, it is important to have– immediate success / impact– examples and proofs that the project is
serious works
• Therefore, it is recommended to start with "easy" sectors / persons / organisations
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Criterion 1: Leadership
• Do not start with a sector, which does not have some entrepreneurs with charisma and leadership capacities
• but with a sector, which has one, two or more entrepreneurs with a strong personality and leadership capacities
Attention: This is a „Killer“-criterion : A Nucleus withoutsome informal leaders has low chances to develop!
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Criterion 2: Qualification
• Do not start with a sector, in which all entrepreneurs and companies – are highly qualified
Eventually they think that they know already everything
– are very low qualified It will be more difficult to move them
• but with a sector, – having entrepreneurs of medium
qualification
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Criterion 3 : Strong / Weak
• Do not start with a "strong" sector– Well organised, with a good supply of
services
• but with a "weak" sector– lacking effective organisational structures– lacking a supply of services– lacking self-confident entrepreneurs
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Criterion 4 : Homogeneous / Heterogeneous
• When SMEs / companies are very homogeneous (same product, technology, know-how etc.)they have nothing to exchange
• When SMEs / companies are very heterogeneous(one member has 2 employees, another 100) they have nothing to exchange
• For a successful Nucleus is required a balance between homogeneity and heterogeneity !
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Criterion 5: Critical Quantity
• If a sector consists of few enterprises only it is difficult to keep the Nucleus going in the long run– Some SMEs never participate, others drop out
• If a sector consists of many enterprises chances are better to keep the Nucleus going long term
• In the beginning a Nucleus requires 7 to 12 members, later 10 and more
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Criterion 6: Improvements with / without big Investment
• In some sectors, entrepreneurs can improve their companies in a sequence of small steps, without big investments
• In other sectors, bigger investments are required for considerable improvements
• Start with sectors where improvements are feasible through counselling and training - without big investments in hardware!(Example: Carpentries)
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Criterion 7: External Know-How Sources
• External sources of know-how :– Technical schools / institutes, providers of
hardware (tools, machinery, products), providers of raw materials, freelancing specialists ... and others
• If there are no or few sources of local / regional know-how the Nucleus may rapidly run into difficulties
• Before you start work in a sector, check the external sources of know-how in the market !
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3.The Nucleus Counsellor
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The Nucleus Counsellor : Tasks
Moderationof meetings
GroupCounselling
Execution of activities
IndividualCounsellingof members
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The Nucleus Counsellor : Tasks
• Stimulation and organisation of the communication process amongst members = Moderation
• Focal point: the group dynamics• Objectives:
– Stimulate the identification of common problems and ideas
– Stimulate the exchange of know-how, experience and solutions among members
– Implementation of activities as defined by the nucleus (courses, visits to suppliers, fairs, etc.)
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The Nucleus Counsellor : Tasks
Strategy:• Direct the discussion to problems
which members can solve on their own (internal causes – decision maker : SME= great chance of success)
• Avoid problems that members cannot solve by themselves(external causes – decision maker : others = lobby= less chances of success)
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The Nucleus Counsellor : Tasks
• At the “right” moment, the counsellor– Participates actively in the discussion– Contributes with
- questions, - ideas,- experiences,- comparisons,- proposals
= Counselling
Nucleus
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The Nucleus Counsellor : Tasks
Observations:• Group dynamics come first• Moderation without
counselling is ineffective
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Individual Counselling
• Meeting of two persons:Entrepreneur + Counsellor
• Focal point:The relationship between them
• Instrument:Psychology
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The Individual Counsellor : Tasks
• Create a trusting relationship• Speak the entrepreneur's “language” !• Identify problems
– Subjectively, as seen by the entrepreneur– not objectively, as seen by the counsellor
Counsellor
Entre-preneur
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The Individual Counsellor : Tasks
• Look for solutions to a problem together with the entrepreneur
• Possibly search the market for other sources of know-how
• Ideally, the entrepreneurfinds a solution on his/her own, through reflection
• Decisions are taken by the entrepreneur(not by the counsellor)
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What qualifications does a Counsellor need ?
• Experience with SMEs• Able to work with
people / in groups • Open minded and
willingto learn
• Communication & networking skills
• Entrepreneurial thinking
• Leadership qualities
• Analytical skills • Good public relation
competencies• Confidence to face
challenges • Computer literacy
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Group and Individual Counsellor
Recurrent questions :
Why should the entrepreneur accept and respect me as a helpful counsellor ?
What can I do to be accepted and respected by the entrepreneur as a helpful counsellor ?
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4.The Steps to start a Nucleus
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Step 1: Identification of an appropriate sector
• Identification of a potential Nucleus in reference to the criteria– Identification of one or more potential leaders
Someone who is respected in the sector Neither the biggest nor the smallest entrepreneur
If possible an entrepreneur who is member of the board of directors of the chamber
• Short explanation of the Nucleus idea to the selected leader
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Step 2: Mobilisation of potential participants
• The counsellor decides together with the potential leader who should be invited for a first meeting– Never invite all entrepreneurs of the sector
Risk, to have personal enemies among them– The informal leader will propose only those
entrepreneurs with whom he has a friendly ore neutral relationship
– The selected entrepreneurs shall have a maximum of 30 minutes to go to the meeting place
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Step 2: Mobilisation of potential participants
• The counsellor visits together with the potential leader the selected potential participants
• They invite for the first Nucleus meeting– The personal encounter reduces the barriers
and creates a little bit of trust– Never invite per letter, fax, e-mail etc.
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Step 3: Preparation of the Meeting
• Required number of participants– Minimum 7, maximum 15
• A room adequate for working with visualisation techniques– No tables– Many walls
• Take care of– Noise– Light– Temperature
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Step 4: The first Meeting
• Welcome by an "important" person– President, CEO, etc.– to emphasise the importance of the
entrepreneurs‘ participation and the work of the Nucleus
• Objective : to honour participants
"We, the chamber, need you as member !"
"You, entrepreneur, need the the chamber to improve your company !"
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Step 4: The first Meeting
• Introduction of participants• Very brief explanation of the Nucleus' work
– Don't explain details – they'll learn by doing– Don't explain the history – it's boring– Talk about Nuclei of other sectors – and about success stories
• Explanation of visualisation technique• The start :
"Which problems do you encounter ?"
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Step 6:The Process of Identifying
- Problems - Ideas
- Solutions- Activities
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Prerequisite for starting a Change Process
• A problem:negative situation, the entrepreneur suffers
• A vision:adequate situationbut the entrepreneur wants further improvement
vision
current situation
future situation
+desired situation
current situation
problem-
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A : Identification of Problems
Workers withoutexperience
Which problems do you encounter ?
Money
Credit
Quality of raw material
Quality ofmaintenanceof machines
Customer
National Government
Purchase ofnew machine
Costs too high
Productivitytoo low
Collectionof cards
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B : Provoking more Cards
Input Throughput Output
machinescapitalraw material buildings staff“know-how”training etc.
productiontransformationprocess
productservice
Areas in the company
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rearrangement of cards to create structures
C : Structuring Problems
Workers
Which problems do you encounter ?
Money
Credit
Quality of raw material
Quality ofmaintenanceof machines
CustomerNational Government
Purchase ofnew machine
Costs too high
Productivitytoo low
FinancesProduction
Investment
Other Problems
Staff
Sales
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D : Weighing Problems
Workers
Which problems do you encounter ?
Money
Credit
Quality of raw material
Quality ofmaintenanceof machines
CustomerNational Government
Purchase ofnew machine
Costs too high
Productivitytoo low
FinancesProduction
Investment
Other Problems
Staff
Sales
Take off redundant
cardsand those with very distant
problems.Explain why
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E : Improving the Quality (Expressiveness) of Cards
Workers
Which problems do you encounter ?
Money
Credit
Low quality of raw material
Low quality ofmaintenanceof machines
Purchase ofnew machine
Costs too high
Productivitytoo low
FinancesProduction
Investment Staff
SalesA problem
should express
a negative state
These cardsare ok !
These cardsare not ok
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E : Improving the Quality of Cards
workers does not describe a problem
workers not adequately qualified
does describe a problem
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E : Improving the Quality of Cards
Workers not adequately qualified
Which problems do you encounter ?
Confusion of privateand companymoney
No accessto credit
Low quality of raw material
Low quality ofmaintenanceof machines
Customerdoesn'tpay
Doubts aboutpurchase ofnew machine Costs too
high
Productivitytoo low
FinancesProduction
Investment Staff
SalesCards after improvemen
t
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F : Deciding Priorities
Workers not adequately qualified
Which problems do you encounter ?
Confusion betweenprivateand companymoney
No accessto credit
Quality ofmaintenanceof machines
Customerdoesn'tpay
Doubts aboutpurchase ofnew machine Costs too
high
Productivitytoo low
FinancesProduction
Investment Staff
Sales
Which problem - is
the most
urgent ?- concerns
the majority of SMEs?
Quality of raw material
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F : Deciding Priorities
• When a Nucleus is relatively new take care that– The selected problem is not too complex to be
successfully tackled and solved– In the case of external know-how probably
being required, you should have potential sources of know-how in mind
Start with simple
problems!
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G : Further Analysis of the Problem
Which problems do you encounter with raw materials?What are the causes?
Quality of raw material
Too dry
Don't know whetherit is the right materialfor my product
Too expensive
Too wetQuality isalways different
Not always availablein the market
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G : Provoking further Analysis
through "W"-Questions
• What ...• When ...• Where ..• How ...• Who ...• Why ...
• Before what ..• How much ...• Which ...?
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G : Further Analysis through Questions
• What happens?• When do you buy it?• Where do you buy it?• How do you store it?• Who has the same
problem?• Why don't you return
it?• Are there other
possibilities?
• What are you afraid of?
• How much do you pay?
• Which product do you produce with it?
• ....
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H : Exchange of Solutions and Ideas
Who within the Nucleus has which solutions?Quality of raw material
Too dry
Don't know whetherit is the right materialfor my productToo expensive
Too wetQuality isalways differentNot always in
the marketavailable
List of producersList of suppliersSupplier x is reliable
List with pricesand suppliers
Increase stock in May – Junewhen price is low
The problem
is solved ? If yes : ok Or is more
information necessary ?
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I : Deciding on Activities
Nobody here knows anything more.Are there external sources of know-how ?What do we want to do? Quality of
raw materialDon't know whetherit is the right materialfor my product
Plan of activities,decision
aboutnext steps
Next meeting in acompany to see theproblem in place
Visit a producercompany
Invitation of a supplierto make a presentation
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And so on ....
Further meetings ....
Further activities ....
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…and at the End of the meeting...
Evaluation
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Rule Number 1 :
The participant returns home with the feeling that he / she gained something !
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Rule Number 2 :
The participant returns home with the feeling that he / she gained something !
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... and Rule Number 1000 :
The participant returns home with the feeling that he / she gained something !
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.. and Rule 1001 :
A counsellorhiding in the office is useless !
His workingplace is in the companies!
Office chair with nailsfor the counsellor !
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5.Some Problems ...
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Some Problems: the Group doesn’t work ...
• Too homogeneous or heterogeneous• Weak leader, little commitment• One entrepreneur tries to dominate the others• Cartelisation (closing the group against new
members)• The leader uses the group for other purposes
(e.g. political goals)• Personal conflicts hinder a professional
relationship
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Some Problems: the Counsellor doesn’t work ...
• Doesn't know what he wants• Sleeps ... • Acts like a subordinate / secretary and
not as a counsellor (insecurity, fear)• Does not grow as fast as the group• Does not use visualisation techniques:
Without visualisation the quality of the work of a Nucleus deteriorates dramatically
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Success ...
• Ask the entrepreneurs!
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Nucleus-International.net
• This file is part of our material to present and illustrate our activities to professional and elected officials of business associations, personnel from technical cooperation projects, and other people with an interest in this field. We are involved in a constant process of elaborating and improving this material, and targeting it to the demands of specific groups.
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• Thank you!• The Nucleus-International.net team