The Loden Foundation - Loden Entrepreneurship Programme

Loden Entrepreneurship Programme

The Rationale

As thousands of youth are churned out of schools and colleges each year, Bhutan is facing an unprecedented problem of unemployment. Private sector is still a fledgling and civil service is saturated. With money-oriented economy sweeping across the region, there is also need for a socially responsible and ethical entrepreneurial culture. LEP was launched in order to give a helping hand to hundreds of young people who are searching for guidance and support to be entrepreneurs.

The Intent

The aim of LEP is to train and support young Bhutanese in entrepreneurial ventures. The programme aspires to help them realize their dreams by providing them training, moral and technical support, and initial funds to start new entrepreneurial ventures. By helping young people to be self-starters in business enterprises, LEP hopes to cultivate entrepreneurial skills, create employment, and promote a self-sufficient economy, while also promoting social volunteerism by involving successful entrepreneurs and business experts as volunteers. We also aim to build an entrepreneurial knowledge and resource base and a pool of Bhutanese and international experts, who will give voluntary support and guidance to the young entrepreneurs. For more information read the LEP charter and the most recent LEP Report.

The LEP Training Programme

Entrepreneurial education is at the heart of LEP. Since launching LEP in early 2008, we have successfully conducted two training in April, 2008 and April 2009. Participants from a wide range of background attended the training.

The training was given by a group of business lecturers, local entrepreneurs and one international experts. The courses covered entrepreneurial thinking, ethics and skills, conception of business ideas and structures, financial analysis, operations and management, marketing techniques, drafting of business plans, etc.

The trainings were hugely successful with over 60% of the participants rating course content as excellent and about 75% the quality of instruction as very good. All candidates felt their time at the courses were highly productive. There were 31 female and 44 male participants in the 2009 session. The next major training session will be in April 2010.

LEP Capital Fund Competition

The LEP training programme is followed by the competition for funds. LEP provides interest free loan to successful entrepreneurs. Announcements for competition are made in April or May and candidates are asked to submit a business proposal by the end of August. The LEP Jury will then assess the proposal at two different stages and call the shortlisted candidates for an interview in October. In 2008, there were 59 applications out of which 19 were shortlisted. Seven candidates were awarded funds. No collateral is required for the loans but candidates who receive the awards are required to sign a contract. For more information on the purpose, processes and conditions of the loans, read our LEP charter, model contract and LEP report .


Ms. Bimla Rai Financial Services	Mrs. Deki Wangmo Tyre Resoling Center	Ms. Namgay Motor Paint Retail	Ms. Pem Agricultural Store	Mr. Tandin Dorji Music Industry	Mr. Yenten Jamtsho Online Classifieds	Mr. Sonam Jamtsho Incense Factory

The LEP Mentorship and Supervision Scheme

Hans Keller, one of the mentors of LEP

What distinguishes LEP from a micro-credit is our emphasis on providing technical and moral support. After the projects were selected for financial support, we appoint two mentors for each project. One is an international expert and the other a local entrepreneur or expert. These mentors advise and guide the entrepreneur through the process of setting up the business and give professional and emotional support. The local mentor meets the entrepreneur and visits the business site on a monthly basis and the international mentor, either in person or through other means such as telephones and emails, discusses the business with the candidate periodically. The two mentors shall also from time to time discuss the problems and prospects of the entrepreneur's business.

In addition to the mentors, the LEP board regularly supervises the project through the LEP administrator. Loden has already built a rich pool of local and international mentors, who give their time and knowledge for free. This has in turn helped us to achieve our other objective of promoting social volunteerism in Bhutan. We will soon post the profile of our chief mentors here.

The Loden Knowledge Base

To supplement and enhance the Loden Entrepreneurship Programme, we are developing a walk-in resource centre attached to our office. The Loden Knowledge Base includes a library of books, journals and CDs on entrepreneurship and higher education and will offer free internet access to allow students and entrepreneurs to browse the internet for information. We will also keep a catalogue of useful websites. See Loden Knowledge Base for more details.

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