Volunteer business people who work alongside the young entrepreneur to ensure their business has the best possible chance of surviving. They act as coach, counsellor, guide and friend. It need not take up a lot of time (5 hours a month), but it is a strong commitment in terms of knowledge, experience and emotion.
Mentors:- Support the creation of a successful, surviving business,
- Transfer their business experience and accelerate the young person’s learning,
- Equip the young person not only to tackle present difficulties, but also to solve future problems,
- Create role models,
- Help plan the growth and development of the business,
- Spot problems developing, such as cash-flow difficulties,
- and solve them before a crisis occurs.
The Importance of Business Mentoring to Youth Entrepreneurship:
Business Mentoring is one of the most critical components of the concept and philosophy of all Youth Business Trusts. Without business mentors a young entrepreneur’s ability to progress, grow and succeed can be greatly hampered and some, even more so than others. With the mandate of helping young people to make a job instead of take a job, youth entrepreneurship practitioners have proven time and time again that committed business mentors are critical to the process of creating a culture of entrepreneurship among the youth. Research has shown that throughout the twenty five (25)Youth Business Trusts (YBIs) operating worldwide, over 60% of the successful young entrepreneurs cite the aluable input of their business mentors as one of the main reasons for their success. The challenge then is for YBIs everywhere to attract and recruit committed and tried business mentors who are willing to give back, in order to sustain a new breed of entrepreneurs. What contribution can business mentoring make to addressing youthunemployment in Belize? - Partnering for voluntary transfer of skills and knowledge
- Understanding networking- helping people to help themselves
- Building self-confidence
- Helping business growth
- Improving skills and management capabilities
- Help to keep people employed
- Focus on future growth
- Promote /enhance employment and self-employment
The key success factors for effective business mentoring? - Reliability
- Quality
- Commitment
- Empathy
- Structure
- Patience
- Expertise
- Communication
- Listening
- Trust
- Enthusiasm
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