Small Business Management: production, value addition and export
Make it here, add value, sell it on merit. This course teaches you to start and run a business that makes, grows or processes a product in Botswana, prices it honestly, gets it registered and funded, and sells it to households, shops, government and markets beyond our borders. Five modules, built, developed and assessed by qualified teachers, fully online and accessible on all devices. All five modules and the Final Assessment are open now.
Botswana needs more people who make things
Most business courses teach general planning. This one is about production: turning local resources into products people buy, replacing imports, and growing towards regional and continental markets. Government buying is moving towards local manufacturers. You finish believing you can build a producing business, with a plan a bank, CEDA, LEA or the Youth Development Fund can read.
- Think like a producer and spot where value can be added to local resources
- Find ideas in what Botswana imports today, and test them before you spend
- Know your market and your competitors, including imported products
- Cost one unit honestly, set a price and find your break-even
- Plan your cash week by week so a big order does not sink you
- Keep a cash book, receipts and a simple profit-and-loss
- Register with CIPA, get your licences, your BURS tax number and know the VAT line
- Meet standards with BOBS and prepare for local-manufacturer registration
- Match your business to CEDA, YDF, LEA, NDB, a bank or a motshelo, and pitch in 60 seconds
Take one module, or build the whole course
Each module is its own course with seven illustrated lessons, practice boxes you can try as you read, a quiz with full explanations, a workbook and templates, and an assignment marked by your teacher. Pass a module and you receive its Stadira module certificate.
Starting a Productive Business 7 lessons · 22 hours · open now
Find, test and plan a business that makes something in Botswana. You follow Mpho in Molepolole turning eggs into egg packs, Kagiso making school desks in Mahalapye and Boitumelo working leather in Lobatse, and you build your own idea alongside them.
- Think like a producer
- Make it here: value addition and value chains
- Finding ideas: import replacement and local resources
- Choosing a sector and testing the idea
- Knowing your market and competitors, including imports
- Your business model and one-page plan
- Learning from Botswana producers
Money, Legal & Funding 7 lessons · 28 hours · open now
Put honest numbers on your product, make the business legal and find the money to grow it. You work out what one egg pack really costs, plan a council desk order through twelve weeks of cash flow, register with CIPA step by step, and finish with a 60-second pitch for a funder.
- Costing a product: what one unit really costs you
- Pricing and break-even
- Budgets and the cash-flow forecast
- Bookkeeping and records: cash book, receipts and a simple profit-and-loss
- Making it legal: CIPA, licences, BURS and the VAT line
- Standards and local-manufacturer registration: BOBS and the EDD Certificate
- Funding, incentives and your 60-second pitch
Customers, Quality & Service 7 lessons · 22 hours · open now
Know your customers, keep every batch the same, package and label it properly, handle complaints with the LEARN steps, respect consumer rights and measure satisfaction.
- Who your customers are and their journey
- Communicating professionally, in person and in writing
- Quality control for small producers: consistency, checks, packaging and labelling
- Service standards and professionalism
- Complaints and service recovery with the LEARN model
- Consumer rights and protecting customer data
- Measuring and improving: CSAT and NPS
Marketing, Selling Online & Exporting 7 lessons · 30 hours · open now
Brand your product, sell it on social media and to shops and wholesalers, get found and get paid online, then look beyond Botswana: SACU, SADC, the AfCFTA and export paperwork.
- Brand and target customer for a product
- Social platforms and a simple content plan
- Photos, Canva and a 30-second video of your product
- Adverts on P50 a day: write it, boost it, count what comes back
- Get found and get paid: Google Business Profile, mobile money and WhatsApp selling
- Selling to shops, wholesalers and other businesses
- Selling beyond Botswana: SACU, SADC and the AfCFTA
Planning & Managing Projects 7 lessons · 28 hours · open now
Run your launch as a project: charter, Gantt chart, risks, a small team, monitoring and reporting to funders, and selling to government as a producer.
- Your launch as a project: life cycle and charter
- Scope, work breakdown and the Gantt chart
- Risk, quality and contracts
- Leading a small team: roles, written agreements, meetings, delegation
- Counting as you go: the results chain, indicators and your monitoring plan
- Evaluation and reporting to funders
- Selling to government as a producer: PPRA, quotations and local preference
Final Assessment 5 guide lessons · 15 hours · open now
Bring it all together for the full course certificate. Your teacher marks your Producer’s Business Plan (35%), your five-minute Pitch Day (15%) and a 60-minute, open-notes final exam (30%); your five module quizzes count for 20%. Pass mark 60%. Pitch live on Google Meet on the last Saturday of each month, or send a recording.
- Welcome: how the Final Assessment works and your plan
- Your Producer’s Business Plan: pages 1–35 in a plan a funder can read
- Pitch Day: brief, rubric, recording
- Getting ready for the final exam
- After the course: your certificate, the 30-day Launch Challenge and the doors that help
Complete Modules 1 to 5 before you enrol in the Final Assessment. Your teacher marks it and awards the full course certificate when you pass.
For people who want to make, grow or process something
No previous qualification is needed. If you can read English and send a WhatsApp message, you can start. Career courses are for learners in Botswana.
Starting a business
School-leavers, job-seekers and anyone with an idea who wants a producing business and a plan that CEDA, LEA or the Youth Development Fund will take seriously.
Already running one
Owners of micro and small businesses, cooperative members and farmers who want honest costing, proper records, the right registrations and a route to funding.
Working in one
Employees in production, sales or administration who want to understand the numbers and the rules behind the business, with a certificate to show for it.
Made for real budgets and costly data
Drawn, not just written
Every lesson is full of drawn diagrams, pictures of the cast and a money picture for every calculation, with Prof. Kitso checking in as you go. A Text only switch saves data.
Practice boxes
Try the idea yourself: a unit-cost calculator, a break-even slider, a 12-week cash-flow planner, a cash book, a funding matcher, a pitch timer and more. Practice only, never graded.
Workbook and templates
Each lesson ends with a page of your Producer’s Business Plan. Download the workbook (PDF and Word), the Lesson Notes PDF and Excel templates for costing, pricing, cash flow and records.
Marked by your teacher
Each module ends with a quiz with full explanations (pass 60%, unlimited tries) and an assignment marked by your teacher with personal feedback. Built, developed and assessed by qualified teachers.
One flat fee per course.
Open now
| Module 1 · Starting a Productive Business | P499 |
| Module 2 · Money, Legal & Funding | P499 |
| Module 3 · Customers, Quality & Service | P499 |
| Module 4 · Marketing, Selling Online & Exporting | P499 |
| Module 5 · Planning & Managing Projects | P499 |
| Final Assessment · plan, pitch and exam | P799 |
| Full course: all five modules and the Final Assessment (P3,294 separately) | P2,999 |
Pay by bank transfer or Orange Money at checkout. Your module opens as soon as your payment is confirmed, usually the same working day. Lifetime access.
Enrol in the full course, or for a group
Tell us on WhatsApp that you want the full course. We enrol you in all five modules and the Final Assessment and send one invoice for P2,999. Groups of five or more get a group rate.
Enrol in the full course on WhatsAppYou can take Module 2 first if you already have a business idea; Module 1 is the best start if you do not.
Train your team
Send your production, sales or admin staff through one module or more. Group rates start from five learners. We provide a tax invoice, an attendance record and a serial-numbered certificate for every learner, which is what many employers need when claiming eligible training costs through the HRD Fund levy. Online, in Gaborone, or on-site at your workplace.
Get a group quote- Group rates from five learners
- Pick the modules you need
- Online, in Gaborone, or on-site
- Invoice, attendance record and certificates
Before you enrol
Do I have to take the modules in order?
No. Each module is a complete course with its own certificate. Module 1 helps you choose and test a business; Module 2 puts the numbers, the paperwork and the funding behind it. If you already run a business, you can start with Module 2.
How much time does it take?
Module 1 is about 22 hours and Module 2 about 28 hours, including the assignment. Lessons fit around work, so most learners study in the evening or at weekends. There is no time limit on your access.
Are all the modules open?
Yes. Modules 1 to 5 and the Final Assessment are all open now. Take the modules in order, or start with the one you need most; the Final Assessment comes after Modules 1 to 5.
What certificate do I get?
A Stadira module certificate for each module you pass, serial-numbered and verifiable online. After all five modules and the Final Assessment, you receive the full course certificate. Stadira Training Institute is operated by Jodalin (Pty) Ltd, registered in Botswana.
Can my employer pay?
Yes. We invoice employers and provide attendance records and certificates for every learner. Use the group-quote button above.
I run a farm. Is this course for me?
Yes. Eggs, poultry and processed foods run through the lessons. For the full farming programme, see our separate course Poultry & Vegetable Farming as a Business.
Interested in using AI in your business?
Our second flagship course, AI for Business, teaches free AI tools for work and business. All five modules are open now at P499 each, with the Final Assessment at P799.