Business development services are non-financial business supports focused on providing advice to entrepreneurs and SME managers to improve the performance of their enterprises (e.g. information, consultancy, mentoring, leadership development and management training). They have been evolving rapidly in OECD countries in the recent years and national and local policymakers have many policy options. Getting the design, implementation and governance structures of these services right is crucial to maximise the success of the support provided, and in turn, the contribution of recipient SMEs and entrepreneurs to economic growth.
The OECD assesses recent evolutions in the design and delivery of business development services in OECD countries. The OECD also conducted an OECD-wide survey of the latest policy developments, identifying trends and best practices in the provision of business development services to entrepreneurs and SMEs, including how to handle issues of raising demand for external advice among lagging businesses, segmenting advice approaches by types of enterprise, introducing digital business diagnostic tools, and performance monitoring and upgrading of business incubators and other business development centres. The OECD also conducts case studies in specific countries and regions, for example business development services approaches have been reviewed in Ireland and Indonesia.