Effective government programmes should be taken up by their potential beneficiaries. This study investigates the factors associated with the decision of Vietnamese small business owners to participate in free business training programmes. Based on the original survey data, I find that most business owners were unaware of the importance of learning business, and thus, did not take up the training offer. The regression analysis, using bivariate probit model, shows that the risk-taking owners and owners with their relatives also invited to the same training were more likely to participate in the training. These findings suggest that providing ex-ante information about the usefulness of the training and allowing group participation can encourage training participation.