Business Growth Acceleration Through The Entrepreneur Hub Program By The Ministry Of MSMES

Abstract

Indonesia’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) contribute 61-63% of the national GDP and absorb 97% of the total workforce, yet most remain stagnant, unable to transition from survival-based operations into competitive, scalable enterprises. Most founders operate without strategic direction, lack professional networks, and make decisions based on intuition rather than data. In response, the Ministry of MSMEs launched the Entrepreneur Hub program which is a government-backed initiative integrating coaching and mentoring, business incubation, legal formalization support, financial access facilitation, market exposure, and ecosystem integration. Despite the program’s national scale, there remains limited academic understanding of how and why it produces the outcomes it does from the qualitative perspective of its participants which a gap this research addresses directly. This research adopts a qualitative multiple case study design, engaging all participants across all stakeholders groups Data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between January and March 2026 and analyzed using thematic analysis. The study is grounded in three theoretical frameworks, which are Human Capital Theory, Penrose’s Theory of the Growth of the Firm, and the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Framework. The findings reveal that coaching and mentoring is the central activation force driving business growth across all six participating MSMEs producing universal mindset transformation, unlocking network access, and enabling stage-appropriate growth regardless of sector or participation type. The study also identifies three structural implementation gaps, which are unpredictable scheduling, absent competency standards, and post program discontinuity. The proposes solution is an integrated digital platform to address the implementation gap. Nevertheless, the implementation of this platform is subject to several constraints, including complex bureaucratic and regulatory procurement process, as well as the need for sustained government funding to ensure long-term operability. The findings contribute empirical evidence for government-led mentorship effectiveness in developing economy contexts and deliver actionable recommendations to transform the Entrepreneur Hub into a sustainable, data-driven entrepreneurial ecosystem.