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Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Start by finding out what “without formal records” means for each participant. A business may lack bookkeeping but already be registered, or it may be unregistered and facing a different set of barriers. Build the program around those differences: teach usable business practices, explain locally relevant formalization options and obligations, and provide follow-up where feasible. The ILO’s Formalize Your Business (FYB) model offers a starting structure, but the curriculum and compliance guidance must be adapted to the country and participants.
First distinguish missing bookkeeping from informality
“No formal records” is not a single business condition. It can mean that an owner does not track sales, expenses, stock, or cash flow; that a business lacks registration; or that it is not meeting other applicable requirements. These circumstances can overlap, but they are not interchangeable. A program should assess them rather than assume every participant is unregistered.
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Use an initial assessment to establish what the business already records, how it makes day-to-day decisions, what registration or compliance steps it has taken, and what prevents it from keeping records or formalizing. The ILO FYB framework addresses informal economic units and includes bookkeeping, while its country component treats registration and compliance as locally specific.
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Design the program in a practical sequence
1. Choose specific, realistic objectives
Decide whether the program is meant to strengthen management, establish basic record keeping, explain formalization choices, support compliance, improve access to services, or combine a few of these goals. Make the intended outcomes explicit: what participants learn, what practices they adopt, whether they take formalization steps, and what business results the program will assess.
These outcomes should not be treated as interchangeable. A participant can learn a skill without adopting it, adopt a record-keeping practice without registering, or formalize without seeing an immediate increase in sales. The World Bank’s review of 230 entrepreneurship program evaluations highlights the importance of context, participant profiles, program design, content, wraparound services, trainers, and outcome selection.
2. Map and verify the local support and compliance route
Before finalizing lessons, identify the organizations participants may need to deal with or can turn to for help. Depending on the country and business, these may include government offices, business associations, worker and employer organizations, social-security institutions, financial-service providers, and other business-support programs.
Check the relevant local steps and requirements with appropriate bodies and local partners. Establish which documents are needed, what fees and time commitments apply, and what ongoing obligations follow. This matters for registration as well as tax, labor, social-security, and sector-specific rules. The ILO’s FYB adaptation process begins by mapping actors and validating country-specific information before materials are revised and approved; its program page describes an adaptation period of approximately six months.
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Because no jurisdiction is specified here, there is no universal registration checklist to give. Requirements can differ by country and business activity, so a generic compliance lesson should explain how to find and verify the right local route rather than present one set of rules as universal.
3. Teach records participants can actually maintain
Begin with existing habits and the decisions the owner needs to make. Teach a simple record-keeping method suited to the business and local requirements, rather than assuming every enterprise needs a complex accounting system. The FYB generic component includes bookkeeping systems. An ILO review of the Ethiopia study also identifies management constraints such as marketing, record keeping, financial planning, and stock control.
Connect the practice to everyday use: records are valuable when they help an owner understand cash coming in and going out, plan purchases, monitor stock, or prepare information required by a service provider or authority. The appropriate system will depend on the enterprise, the participant’s circumstances, and applicable local rules.
4. Present formalization as a means, not a promise
Explain why formalization may matter, what potential benefits and challenges participants should weigh, which steps apply locally, and what responsibilities continue after registration. The ILO says, “Enterprise formalization is not an objective in itself. It is a means to an end.” Its FYB materials address registration, labor rules, tax, and social security in country context.
Be candid about uncertainty: registration does not automatically raise income or guarantee access to finance. The program should help participants understand relevant choices and consequences, not pressure every business toward an identical path or promise a particular payoff.
5. Match delivery and follow-up to participant needs
The ILO FYB model uses three half-day sessions and can be delivered on its own or alongside SIYB. Other evaluated approaches include individual counseling, mentoring, and remote classes. Choose among formats by considering participants’ time and access, facilitator cost, whether individual follow-up is possible, and whether local-language and accurate compliance guidance can be delivered well.
Evidence from remote training over Zoom in Mexico and Guatemala shows that the approach was feasible in that setting, but cost savings were lower than expected and measured impacts had dissipated by six months. It is not evidence that online-only delivery is best for all programs. An ILO-described evaluation in Indonesia tested bundles with over 5,000 clients in two provinces, involving more than 170 loan officers trained as trainers and/or counselors and using a two-day class and/or five individual counseling sessions. Those details describe the trial’s scale and delivery, not a universal prescription.
Where feasible, plan follow-up so participants can ask questions as they try new practices or navigate local steps. The appropriate format and duration depend on the target group and the support available.
6. Prepare facilitators to deliver locally accurate content
Use facilitators who understand the participant group and can explain practical business practices clearly. For formalization guidance, they also need materials and preparation that reflect current local requirements. The FYB adaptation pathway includes training of trainers after country materials have been adapted and reviewed. Build in a way to collect facilitator and participant feedback so that inaccurate or confusing content can be corrected.
7. Evaluate learning, practice, status, and performance separately
Set measures that match the program’s objectives. Track participation and learning, adoption of record-keeping or management practices, formalization steps where relevant, and enterprise outcomes over an appropriate period. Separate these categories in reporting: a change in knowledge is not the same result as a change in business status or performance.
Training can help, but it should not be sold as a guaranteed route to growth. An ILO-published 2020 review reports a meta-analysis estimate that small-business training increases profits and sales by 5 to 10 percent on average across the evidence it reviewed. The review notes that effects of this size are too small for most experiments to detect statistically and that results vary considerably. This pooled estimate is not a forecast for an individual program or participant. The World Bank review likewise calls for rigorous evaluation to establish what works, how, and why.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the evidence can—and cannot—tell program designers
The studies and program descriptions support adapting content and delivery to local conditions; they do not establish one format, curriculum, or formalization route that works for every business. For instance, the Indonesia evaluation tested particular service bundles in two provinces, and the remote-training findings come from Mexico and Guatemala. Treat these as context-specific evidence when making design choices.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallAn ILO program overview published on 27 June 2022 attributes the statement that “80 per cent of all economic units are informal and employment in the informal sector exceeds employment in the formal sector” to Dragan Radic, Head of the SME Unit in the ILO Enterprises Department, speaking at a webinar on 15 June 2022. It is a dated statement made in that webinar, not a freshly verified global estimate.
Quick Recap
Sources for program design and evaluation
- ILO Formalize Your Business (FYB) Training for entrepreneurs — model, curriculum, adaptation, and implementation descriptions.
- ILO: What is the Formalize Your Business training and how does it contribute to decent work? — objectives and dated program statements.
- ILO: Small Business Training to Improve Management Practices in Developing Countries — 2020 evidence review.
- World Bank: Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programs around the World: Dimensions for Success — review of program evaluations and design considerations.
- ILO: Evidence from a randomized control trial in Indonesia — tested credit and enterprise-development service delivery.
- World Bank: Business Training and Mentoring in Ethiopia — evidence on training and mentoring for women-owned microenterprises.
- World Bank: Training Microentrepreneurs over Zoom — remote-training evidence from Mexico and Guatemala.
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