RFP - Engagement of a Technical Consultant/Agency for Enterprise Development Capacity Building, Enterprise Assessment, Business Plan Development...

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Trickle Up India Foundation (TUIF) | 4/2 Orient Row, 2nd Floor, Park Circus, Kolkata – 700017, India | Ph: [contact details removed]

Engagement of a Technical Consultant/Agency for Enterprise Development Capacity Building, Enterprise Assessment, Business Plan Development and Enterprise Support System Strengthening for SHGs under the MPowered Plus Scale-Up Cluster Project.

1. About TUIF

Trickle Up India Foundation (TUIF) is a not-for-profit organization committed to enabling women and marginalized communities to move out of extreme poverty through sustainable livelihood promotion, enterprise development, financial inclusion, and social empowerment. By adopting evidence-based approaches and strengthening community institutions, TUIF works to build resilient livelihoods that enhance household income, improve agency, and create pathways for long-term economic security.

TUIF's programmes focus on strengthening women's economic participation by building their capacities, promoting entrepreneurship, facilitating market linkages, improving access to finance, and fostering collective enterprises. The organization believes that sustainable livelihood transformation requires not only financial investment but also continuous capacity building, technical handholding, institutional strengthening, and ecosystem development.

Recognizing that community institutions play a critical role in sustaining livelihood outcomes, TUIF promotes Self-Help Groups (SHGs), producer collectives, and community-based enterprise models as key platforms for inclusive economic development. Through strategic partnerships with government departments, civil society organizations, financial institutions, and private sector stakeholders, TUIF strives to create enabling ecosystems where rural women entrepreneurs can establish, strengthen, and scale their enterprises.

During the first year, the project plans to provide structured enterprise development support to 300 existing SHGs across the five project blocks. These SHGs are expected to be at different stages of enterprise readiness and development. The consultancy will therefore support the project to assess enterprise opportunities and readiness, identify viable enterprise options, and develop realistic and market-oriented business plans appropriate to the local context, resources, capabilities, and market potential of the SHGs.

2. Project Background and Context

The MPowered Plus Scale-Up Cluster Project is designed to build on the learning and achievements of the earlier MPowered scale up project initiative and deepen the economic empowerment of women by strengthening SHG-led enterprises through a structured and sustainable enterprise development approach. While the previous phase focused on initiating and nurturing women-led SHGs enterprises, the Cluster phase aims to strengthen existing SHGs enterprises, improve their business performance, and prepare them for long-term growth through market-oriented and cluster-based interventions.

The project aims to strengthen women-led SHG enterprises by enhancing their enterprise management and technical capacities, improving access to markets and business development services, promoting value addition, and gradually facilitating the development of sustainable enterprise clusters . Recognizing that SHG enterprises are at different stages of maturity, the project will adopt a phased and differentiated approach , providing tailored support based on each enterprise’s current needs, performance, capacity, and growth potential.

The first year will serve as a critical foundation-building phase , focusing on understanding the existing status and potential of SHG enterprises and strengthening the capacity of project teams to provide effective enterprise support. Key efforts will include developing enterprisespecific growth roadmaps and establishing practical tools and systems for enterprise assessment, business planning, mentoring, and regular business performance monitoring. These foundational processes will provide a structured basis for enterprise strengthening throughout the project period, while also identifying and preparing high-potential enterprises for their gradual transition towards cluster-based development and collective growth .To achieve these objectives, TUIF intends to engage a technically competent consultant/agency to provide specialized support in enterprise assessment, capacity building, enterprise business planning, and the development of practical enterprise management tools. The consultancy is expected to work closely with TUIF and implementing partners to establish a robust enterprise development support system that strengthens both the capacities of the project team and the quality of enterprise interventions across the project areas.

3. Purpose

The purpose of the consultancy is to establish a practical and scalable enterprise development support system for the first year of the MPowered Plus Scale-Up Cluster Project. The consultancy will: (i) strengthen the capacity of TUIF and implementing partner teams to support SHG-led enterprises; (ii) assess enterprise opportunities, readiness, performance, and growth potential of the identified SHGs; (iii) facilitate the development of realistic, marketoriented and financially viable business plans for the identified SHGs; and (iv) establish practical and standardized tools and processes for enterprise assessment, business planning, enterprise mentoring, business performance monitoring and periodic enterprise review, which can be used by the project team throughout the project implementation period.

The consultancy will adopt a participatory and field-based approach and will build the practical capacity of the project team through hands-on engagement during enterprise assessment, business planning, and field mentoring processes.

4. Objectives

Overall Objective

To strengthen the enterprise development support system of the MPowered Scale-Up Extension Project by building the technical capacities of project teams, assessing SHG enterprises, developing Enterprise Business Plans, and establishing practical tools and processes for enterprise strengthening.

The consultancy will specifically support enterprise assessment and business planning for 300 selected SHGs across the five project blocks.

The consultancy shall aim to:

Strengthen the technical knowledge and facilitation skills of TUIF and implementing partner field teams on enterprise development, enterprise business planning, enterprise mentoring, and business monitoring.

Assess the enterprise readiness, existing livelihood base, enterprise opportunities, market potential, business viability, governance and management capacities, and growth potential of the identified SHGs through a structured and participatory assessment process.

Identify viable market opportunities, value-addition possibilities, key constraints, input and service requirements, and potential pathways for collective or cluster-level enterprise development.

Develop practical, market-oriented and financially viable Enterprise Business Plans covering enterprise strengthening, production, markets, costing and pricing, working capital, risks and growth opportunities.

Design and develop practical tools and standardized formats for enterprise assessment, enterprise segmentation, business planning, enterprise mentoring, business performance monitoring, periodic enterprise review and identification of enterprises with potential for collective or cluster-level development.

Enable the project field team to apply standardized methodologies and tools for enterprise assessment, business planning, mentoring, and business monitoring through structured on-the-job learning and technical handholding during the consultancy period.

5. Scope of Work

The consultant/agency will provide technical support to TUIF for strengthening the enterprise development component of the MPowered Scale-Up Extension Proj