A Learning Enterprise is a real operating business with a focus on the development of the Business Skills of the people involved (employees) in its operations.

A "Learning-by-Doing" approach is followed, strengthend through providing training on specialised areas that relate to the type of business.

The "bottom-line" for the Learning Enterprise is that it needs to be sustainable through generating sufficient income to cover all the expenses of the business. However, profits relate to new skills gained by "employees" as well as in terms of the number of "employees" leaving the enterprise to start their own businesses.

Employees work on a commission basis, generating income for themselves. This income is used by them to cover their daily expenses and to save money to be able to start their own business.

EWET piloted the Learning Enterprise concept in the form of the "YES" Print & Copy Shop.

The nature of EWET's work is such that we need to print a lot of material relating to workshop materials, newsletters, posters, receipt books, invoice books and printing relating to corporate identity such as letterheads, business cards, complimentary slips, etc.

EWET decided to develop our in-house printing capability.

Fluctuationin the utilisation of this printing capacity lead towards us experimenting in servicing external customers through involving out-of-school and unemployed young people as "employees". The experiment proved workable.

We decide to extend potential "employees" to also include graduates from EWET's school based youth entrepreneurship programmee - the Youth Enterprise Society (YES) programme. Thus the birth of the YES Print & Copy Shop.

It took us approximately two years for the "YES Print & Copy Shop" to achieve a break-even point. This should be understood within the context of starting a new business.

The first two young people who spread their wings and progressed beyond the "Yes Print & Copy Shop" are Sizwe Majozi (secured a good job based on skills gained) and Robert Sibeko (furthering his studies).

Extentions in the "Yes Print & Copy Shop" are the opeerations of a "Cyber Cafe" - where customers are able to utilise the Internet, as well as the capacity to execute design work such as for corporate identity.