By Frida Owinga
SMEs have been globally acknowledged as instruments for achieving economic growth and development as well as employment creation. In developed nations, they have been given serious attention.
In Africa, the importance of entrepreneurship development cannot be undermined. Its contributions are quite visible in economic transformations.
Leadership experts argue that there’s real ROI to the mentor and mentee relationship, for everyone involved.
Here’s a brief look at the benefits of mentorship for entrepreneurs. In terms of direct business value, it’s an effective method for engaging, developing, and accelerating business growth. Mentoring is a strategy that helps business owners to position themselves more competitively. Benefits of mentoring:
Mentorship as a Professional Development Goal
Mentors will learn to be organized, share information clearly, and guide peers to grow personally and professionally while building their acumen in leadership and management.
Grab the Opportunity to Pay It Forward
Lending a hand can feel gratifying and meaningful. Plus, it’s a big compliment to be someone’s source of wisdom.
Always be ready to discover and innovate yourself
The knowledge-sharing in this relationship goes in both directions. Not only do mentors get access to the concerns and priorities of peers, but they get a hands-on look at new technology or ways of operating.
Gain support and knowledge: impactful peer mentoring provides peers with advice, wisdom, and encouragement, as well as new skills and institutional knowledge good for the founders and/or her team.
Improved Performance and Productivity
Feedback and guidance from peers can improve business performance because of accountability.
Improve business and revenue: Participating in mentoring can lead to an increase in revenue, according to one study, while another study pointed to the rise in business satisfaction.
The Mental Health Foundation recommends mentoring as an effective way to support mental health. Mentorship can be an important tool for an entrepreneur’s well-being in the following ways:
Fostering human connection
Entrepreneurs are known to be lonely due to long working hours trying to find solutions and make ends meet.
Providing peer support
Many entrepreneurs lack support from their loved ones because of the inconsistent nature of the environment and having peer support can a long way in keeping the entrepreneur whole and hearty.
Building trust
Peer mentorship breeds trust as you are functioning in a safe structured environment as opposed to sharing your info with random people.
Establishing accountability
Many entrepreneurs go into business for freedom and independence and lack an accountability framework which is critical for measuring success.
The need for connection doesn’t stop when people join a community. With mentoring, organizations can focus on mental health and build support for their members, personally and professionally.
SME Founders Association provides peer mentoring with a business growth performance tracker to monitor and evaluate growth while keeping members accountable to achieve their goals.
Professional business mentors in finance, strategy, marketing, leadership, legal, etc. are also available to support as needed. You can get a free one-on-one at the Founders Town hall from 10 am-12noon. First come, first served basis.
Frida Owinga, Founder of PassionProfit Ltd and Vice President Partnerships SFA
