TOR of Reference for Consulting Services: for Providing Capacity Building, Coaching, and Advisory Support to Green Innovation Lab Entrepreneur Program 2025 Participants

Background

Reach for Change (RFC) is a nonprofit, non-governmental international organisation headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. RFC operates in 11 countries globally, with three of those countries located in Africa. Reach for Change was registered in Ethiopia as a foreign organisation in 2015 under registration number 3419. Our mission is to positively impact the lives of young women and children in Ethiopia by building the capacity of local social entrepreneurs.

Currently, Reach for Change envisions a green and sustainable economy in Ethiopia, where everyone has the opportunity to enjoy a decent quality of life and reach their full potential. As part of this vision, we are implementing a project titled “Building Waste and Circular Enterprises in Ethiopia.” Over the next three years, we aim to deliver an evidence-based, high-impact intervention reaching 75 high-potential green enterprises in Addis Ababa through our Green Innovation Lab. Additionally, we will continue the Green Business Incubator, focusing on entrepreneurs who have participated in the Innovation Lab or those at a more advanced stage. This support will help accelerate job creation and foster green growth in early-stage enterprises.

The ultimate goal of these interventions is to contribute to the national effort and support Reach for Change Ethiopia’s country strategy by creating decent employment for youth and women, while also addressing environmental challenges through sustainable, green solutions.

Through its Innovation Lab Program, Reach for Change Ethiopia, in collaboration with IKEA, provides capacity-building support and financial grants to selected social entrepreneurs. The goal is to help these entrepreneurs develop scalable businesses that can sustain their social impact, positively affecting the lives of women, children, and youth in Ethiopia. The capacity-building component is designed to enable participants to develop, test, and refine a minimum viable product (MVP).

In line with this objective, we plan to offer specific capacity-building support for startups through our Green Innovation Lab Program in Addis Ababa.

Purpose

Reach for Change Ethiopia seeks to hire a qualified and experienced consulting firm to provide intensive, tailored coaching and advisory services to participants of the Green Innovation Lab Program. The goal is to support 34 social entrepreneurs in transforming their validated MVPs into viable startup businesses. For participants who require further refinement, the consultant will provide guidance on pivoting, continuing MVP development, and testing.

Areas of support will include

• Evaluation of MVPs and advice on pivoting and retesting when necessary.
• Business form selection, registration, and compliance.
• Identification and securing of financing sources.
• Guidance on startup fundamentals, including team development, sales and marketing, and financial management.

Scope of Work

The consultant firm will provide tailored coaching and advisory services focused on:

• Supporting prototype development and preparation of a minimum viable product (MVP).
• Advising on business form selection, registration processes, and compliance requirements.
• Assisting participants in identifying financing sources, selecting the most appropriate funding options, and understanding financing terms.
• Coaching on essential startup fundamentals, including team building, marketing strategies, and financial management.
• Evaluating MVPs and offering guidance on pivoting strategies and further product development.

Work Location

The consultancy will take place in Addis Ababa.

Duration

The total duration of the consultancy is three months, from November 15, 2025, to February 28, 2026. The consultant will be allocated 6 session days for coaching/advisory support for each program participant based on their thematic area by assigning relevant experts.

Deliverables

1. Initial Group Meeting: A meeting with the RFC team and GIL program participants to outline the scope, work plan, and methodology.
2. Detailed Work Plan: A comprehensive plan specifying the timeline and services to be delivered.
3. Coaching Report: A report detailing the coaching and advisory services provided for each participant, including feedback and recommendations.

Performance Indicators

• Number of validated experiments
• Number of customer interviews (>20 per participant)
• First 10–50 paying users (where applicable)
• Registration obtained
• Basic bookkeeping established
• IMM indicators: revenue, gross margin, FTE jobs (sex/age disaggregated), green outputs (waste diverted, CO₂e avoided)

The consultant shall collect, clean, and submit datasets aligned with RFC’s core indicators. A simple dashboard (Excel or Google Data Studio) must be provided with sex/age disaggregated data. Monthly updates and spot checks will be required to ensure data quality.

Evaluation Criteria and Weights

Proposals will be evaluated on a total of 100 points, divided into Technical (70 points, 70%) and Financial (30 points, 30%) components. A minimum technical score of 70% is required for consideration.

Note: Only proposals scoring at least 49 points out of 70 in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

About the social entrepreneur, you will work within the Innovation Lab Program:

The Green Innovation Lab Program supports Ideas and early-stage entrepreneurs focused on green businesses, specifically in the Waste Management and Circular Economy sectors. Below is a brief overview of the current participants and their specific areas of focus in waste management:

Agriculture and Animal Waste

• Developing products using different organic waste in the agriculture sector, both in plant and animal wastes, as raw materials.

Plastic Waste

• Recycle, Upcycle, or reuse any plastic materials that are thrown out as waste into the environment.

Paper Waste

• Recycling paper waste to be used again into different paper materials or items.

Garment Waste

• Various business ideas are working on transforming textile waste into different products within the sector.

Food Waste

• Converting certain food waste into different nutritious food items to supplement the food industry.

Municipal Solid Waste

• Managing and/or supporting municipal solid waste segregation, collection, and recycling/ disposal processes.

Medical Waste

• These businesses are working on the proper disposal of medical waste from collection to disposal.

Construction and Furniture Waste

• Supporting the construction business by reusing and recycling construction and furniture waste into other construction materials or furniture items.

Liquid and Water Waste

• Refining, cleaning, and recycling water and other liquid waste to be used again for similar or different purposes, cutting costs.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Master’s Degree in Economics, Business Administration, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Agricultural Economics, or related fields.
• Proven experience in coaching/advisory services or capacity-building for green startups at the early or idea stage.
• Demonstrated ability to apply innovative approaches in supporting the growth of early-stage startups.
• High-level analytical skills and a track record of successfully developing early-stage ideas into established businesses.
• A renewed consultancy service license and TIN registration certificate.
• Sector-specific knowledge related to waste management and the circular economy is an advantage.
• Fluency in English and Amharic (written and spoken).
• The consultant shall provide a competency matrix covering sector expertise (plastics, organic, paper, garment, water/effluent, machinery), functional expertise (finance, operations/SOPs/QA, marketing/B2B sales, compliance, investment readiness), coaching skills (adult learning, behavior change, founder mindset), and IMM/data management. Named leads per theme must be specified