Entrepreneurs play catalyst role in economic development of a country. It involves adoption of new forms of business organizations, new technologies and new enterprises producing goods not previously available at a location. Entrepreneurship development is one of the key components of the programme. It develops confidence and increases risk-bearing capacity of the potential entrepreneurs. Engaging in enterprise may not be of interest to all poor people. However, for people who have been challenged due to lack of education and productive skills, the programme's empirical research has proved that imparting basic entrepreneurial and management skills could generate an overwhelming interest towards micro-enterprises. Access to micro-credit, markets and resources may not guarantee the success of an enterprise in the absence of entrepreneurship and basic management skills. The indoctrination of the ILO promoted Start and Improve Your Own Business (SIYB) and Micro Enterprise Creation training for the poor have proved to be catalysts in the expansion of micro-enterprises in rural Nepal. To ensure that poor people with an interest in enterprise development are aware the programme and its activities the following entrepreneurship development activities are carried out.

1. Sensitization, awareness building and networking.
It involves community sensitisation, village Community meeting, orientation on the Programme process, principle and strategy, sensitisation workshop, and networking with partner organisation for building network with service delivery organisation

2. Identification and selection of potential entrepreneurs.
The identification and selection of potential participants with entrepreneurial competencies is a critical step in the Programme. The Programme has developed special screening criteria which tests the entrepreneurial characteristics of the target participants. The selection procedures of the Programme aim to assess the potential entrepreneurial competencies of target groups, particularly women, who are eager to become entrepreneurs, and to select those who, by virtue of their behavioural and entrepreneurial profiles, have a better probability of success.

3. Micro-enterprise creation and development training.
The Programme has developed a micro-enterprise creation and development (MECD) training package with the assistance of Industrial Enterprise Development Institute (IEDI) for potential entrepreneurs. The package includes Micro-Enterprise Creation Training (MEC) and Micro-Enterprise Assistance Training (MEA).

The MEC training exposes the potential entrepreneurs of the fundamentals of micro-enterprise, help build confidence, and to provide basic knowledge and skills in starting micro-enterprise. The training has four modules consisting of (i) development of entrepreneurial competency, (ii) business identification and selection, (iii) market and marketing concepts, and (iv) preparation of business plans.

The Programme has also initiated 'Start and Improve Your Business' (SIYB), a step-by-step entrepreneurship development package developed by International Labour Organization (ILO) with technical support from UNDP for rural setting. The SIYB helps entrepreneurs to gradually acquire knowledge and business skills for business creation and development. The Programme has also formed a self-sustaining fund management committee including ILO, UNDP, MEDEP and related Programme partners for continuous production, selling and reproduction of the SYIB materials and manage the 'self-sustaining fund' for promoting entrepreneurship in rural setting of the country.