Home : Reports and Publications : Audit & Evaluation : Evaluation of the WEI – October 2004
1.0 Introduction (cont'd)
1.2 Previous Evaluation Studies of the WE Initiative
Evaluation Study of the Women’s Enterprise Initiative
In 1998, the first evaluation of the WEI organizations was conducted for WD. The objective of this evaluation conducted in 1998 was to “develop the means to measure the relevance, impact, success and cost-effectiveness of this initiative and where changes can be made, if necessary, to meet the needs of the women’s enterprise centres and to comply with the strategic objectives of the department”26. The study recommended that the initiative be continued as well as recommending a list of actions to increase program service and systems efficiencies. These recommendations were reviewed by WD and an Action Plan put in place to implement agreed upon recommendations. Relevant information from this report has been referred to in this current evaluation.
2002 Impact Study Findings
The measurement of cost effectiveness and economic spin-off benefits of the WEI was not within the scope of the 1998 Evaluation Study referenced above. To address these questions, the WEI organizations contracted an independent consultant to assess the impact of the WEI. In 2002 an analysis of the impact of the Women’s Enterprise Initiative was completed27. This study was based on a large-scale telephone survey of WEI advisory services and loans clients, as well as in-depth structured telephone interviews with WEI management and on-site visits and consultations with senior WEI staff regarding WEI service delivery. The subsequent report – An Analysis of the Impact of the Women’s Enterprise Initiative – contained the following key findings:
- The WEI addresses an important, and rapidly growing, clientele;
- The WEI addresses the experience gap faced by women-owned businesses by providing financial and intellectual resources to growth-oriented business owners;
- WEI lending activity generates approximately 1.5 jobs per loan (this compares favourably, in terms of jobs per dollar of loan, with job creation/retention rates with more restrictive Small Business Loans Act / Canada Small Business Financing Act);
- WEI advisory services directly contribute to business development and job formation and retention; and
- Most WEI clients report relatively strong perceptions of service quality, and almost 80 percent of clients reported they would use WEI services again.
According to the 2002 Impact Study, the five most frequently-cited (80.1 percent) reasons28 for originally contacting the WEI organization included:
- assistance with business start-up (21.7 percent),
- obtaining education materials and information (19.1 percent),
- financing (16.0 percent),
- assistance in preparing a business plan (8.0 percent), and
- business development advice (6.9 percent).
The service quality ratings available from the 2002 Impact Study indicate strong positive views of the WEI organizations service delivery, with three out of four clients agreeing that they had found the services useful and would use WEI organization services again.
Review of Documents
Overall, the report on Best Practices stated that obtaining financing remains a serious challenge for many women entrepreneurs in Canada. This was also borne out by the 2002 Impact Study: “It is interesting that “obtaining financing” is perceived to be a primary barrier to growth. The extent to which gender plays a role in commercial lending decisions has been studied and debated.”
The review of documents for the evaluation noted that circumstances related to women entrepreneurs within traditional financial institutions are beginning to change: some Canadian banks and financial institutions have developed and are developing gender specific programs by setting up special equity and loan funds for women entrepreneurs that make it somewhat easier for the women entrepreneurs to obtain credit.
Others have also established training protocols for their staff to sensitize them to the needs of women clients and potential clients. There is increasing information on financial institution websites aimed at helping to educate women in how to apply for loans and deal with banks. A specific example is the The Business Development Bank of Canada, in response to the Prime Minister’s Task Force, has implemented programs with a women-centred focus, but based more along the lines of traditional financial institution lending requirements. Loans for women exporters start at $250,000.