There is a growing base of evidence to suggest that mentoring is a naturally good learning tool for entrepreneurs. The support of a mentor helps entrepreneurs grow and learn and become more capable business managers- this is something that most entrepreneurs know instinctively, but why and how does mentoring help?
We at Mowgli have put together a research briefing summarising some relevant research into mentoring for entrepreneurs and we wanted to share it with you. We hope you find it useful.
Introduction:
A major factor leading to the failure of start-up businesses is the lack of experience and competency on the part of the business owners- entrepreneurs. Small firms and their survival are a critical strategy for most governments around the world concerned with rising unemployment and economic development in communities. Recent research has shown that an overall increase in an entrepreneur’s skills and knowledge within the first years of a company’s life is a determining factor in the firm’s survival; for example, one study found that nearly half of small firm bankruptcies in Canada could be attributed to internal problems of the enterprise, due to managerial inexperience. For anyone concerned with increasing the probability of survival amongst new businesses, encouraging learning and development in entrepreneurs is therefore a worthy topic of discussion. Mentoring is a learning tool which can be used by individuals and through organised programmes, which a growing body of research shows can increase some types of learning and development in entrepreneurs.
