The consultant will be required to assess and develop a customized business incubator program for 80 MSMEs
in three cohorts over eighteen months. Through the incubation program, the BDS Firm will work with SMEs to
develop and strengthen their business and financial models, support market analysis and develop business niches,
create a minimum viable product, and prepare them to compete for innovation funds through pitching. The firm
will provide additional training and acceleration support to around 30 – 40 successful businesses to go-to-market
and provide post-acceleration advisory support to SMEs.
The consultant is expected to develop or adapt Mercy Corps SMEs toolkit to support the businesses and use the
PROSPECTS-IV MEL standards to capture learnings. The implementation of the growth accelerator program
will include the below approach:
• Design and implement a business incubator and accelerator program for 20 — 30 high performing
Liberian Owned SMEs;
• Collaboratively work with PROSPECTS Team to Assess and select proposals/applications that meet
the eligibility criteria through facilitation of a pitching competition.
Scope of Work: – Business Development Services Consultancy for Market Development Technical Assistance Facility (Innovation Funds)6/16/2023.
• Conduct Capacity building needs assessment for each business applicant to support development of
a tailored incubation program for the 20 — 30 business Innovations.
• Provide incubation support for 20 — 30 innovations based on identified business Capacity
development needs for example, but not limited to developing and strengthening business and
financial models, data-driven market analysis, market niche and MVP development, and preparation
for pitching competition
• Design, plan and facilitate pitching competition for all three cohorts of the Technical Facility
Assistance
• Design and execute acceleration/go-to-market for 10 – 15 successful innovations through the
Technical Facility Assistance
• Monitor, mentor and coach each of the 10-15 SMEs to accomplish specific milestone activities;
• Provide monthly monitoring and progress reports to Mercy Corps;
• Conduct pre and post-business development capacity intervention assessments to ascertain progress
and capture learnings.
Consultant Activities:
• Support Mercy Corps in developing and implementing the Market Development Technical Facility
Cohort one rollout (develop rollout plan, incubation and acceleration support plans)
• Submit monthly reports on various intervention activities, including baseline surveys, one on one
coaching sessions, group sessions as well as trainings;
• Ensure MSMEs have clear, market-responsive business and financial models and minimum viable
products.
• Ensure that MSMEs successfully complete milestone activities and submit required deliverables on
schedule;
• Connect businesses with existing entrepreneur networks and industry leaders and experts across
program locations;
• Ensure that MSMEs adopt appropriate business management to suit their business needs.
Consultant Deliverables:
The consultant will deliver:
Scope of Work: – Business Development Services Consultancy for Market Development Technical
• Approved Inception Report and Delivery Plan (one-off) – (MDFA strategy, detailed
implementation schedules, content development, rollout plan, training modules, monitoring plan,
mentorship plan, and list of sector-specific mentors).
• Progress Reports (Cohort-based) – (Recruitment, training/onboarding, baseline report, individual
and group coaching reports, business and financial modeling sessions report).
• Completion Reports (cohort-based) – (acceleration coaching and mentorship report, performance
and monitoring report, post-acceleration advisory report, end-line and disengagement report).
• Detailed final report that highlights project activities, baseline, and end-line findings,
accomplishments, and learnings
Required Experience:
A competent firm(s) with proven experience in business development, incubation/accelerator, or advisory
support for Liberian businesses is needed to provide such service.
Requirements for Firm
• Excellent understanding of the Liberian business environment – proven through research and market
survey experience with SMEs in Liberia
• At least three senior managers or team members with Graduate Degrees in business development
and management or related area – Proof of at least 3-5 years of experience working with Liberian
businesses in a business development and advisory role
• Experience building the capacity of SMEs across different sectors, at different growth stages, and
operating in different regions – proof in at least three recommendation letters from SMEs worked with.
The Consultant will report to:
• MSD Team Lead | PROSPECTS-IV &
• Deputy Team Leader | PROSPECTS-IV
The Consultant will work closely with:
1. Intervention Lead and Program Team
2. MEL Coordinator
3. Partnership and Grants Coordinator
Timeframe / Schedule:
Scope of Work: – Business Development Services Consultancy for Market Development Technical
The entire consultancy is expected to last for a maximum of 10 months, commencing from the start of December
2023 to September 2024, and the proposal to be submitted should reflect such timelines.
NOTE: Applications received after the deadline will not be considered. Mercy Corps reserves the right to
contract as many Consultants as necessary to implement this project or none at all.
Document Submission:
All interested firms should kindly submit the following documents and attached annexes via email in one
Portable Document Format, PDF, and with the subject line “BDS Consultancy for Market Development
Technical Assistance Facility” to lr-tenders@mercycorps.org and in hardcopy addressed and delivered to
Mercy Corps Liberia’s office, Sophie Junction Opposite SOS Clinic, Oldest Congo Town, Monrovia, Liberia