Entrepreneurship is a constantly growing phenomenon: people decide to enter or shape their career again starting from their own original idea, creating business to respond to the crisis and unemployment.
Yet here, the most important issue arises: how to turn your idea into a success?
At the beginning of a mentoring relationship, it is important to have a clear idea of the business idea it is going to be developed. Mentees should have a clear and strong motivation and mentors should recognize if this is strong enough to remain solid even in difficult times.
First, it is necessary to carefully analyse the impact that the idea may have on the market and understand if it actually responds to a consumer demand. If this is not the case, perhaps it will be necessary to change direction, without taking unnecessary risks. In most of the cases, the idea itself may not be enough. In fact, it is also necessary to know how to carry out a correct and in-depth analysis of the reference market and the strategies from which to start. Managing a start-up from day zero is very complicated and a mentoring relationship could help new entrepreneurs in becoming more familiar with the entrepreneurial mind-set.
How can mentors help in turning an idea into business? First questions to be answered are those linked directly to the entrepreneur, her motivation and skills and her initial idea and its feasibility. Therefore, the mentor should focus the first sessions on mentee’s self-reflection:
What skills do you have? Where does your passion come from? What is your area of expertise? How much can you invest? How much capital do you need? What kind of lifestyle do you want to achieve? Do you feel ready to become an entrepreneur?
Then, the mentor should foster comprehension on issue more linked to the business project itself:
Where to start? What are the most important aspects to consider when starting a business? What activities should mentees start immediately to understand if an idea could become a business?
Before starting the business, it is necessary to help mentees to study and come up with a detailed and complete strategy. It is a fundamental preliminary process to reach a complete realisation of new entrepreneurs’ goal, regardless of whether he/she moves in the private market rather than in the Third Sector.
How to support Mentees
Mentors should support mentees in:
- Identifying the purposes. That is, clearly and concisely declaring the reasons that push mentee/entrepreneur to undertake a specific activity.
- Setting goals. They are aimed at realizing the previously identified purposes. They must be aligned to the context in which the activity will take place;
- Analyzing the context. From market to competitors. Mentor help mentee to have a clear picture about the sea he/she is sailing;
- Studying the target audience. Who are they? How to reach them?
- Develop a strategy. Through the elements acquired so far;
- Establish a time schedule. Relating to the various activities and stages of development mentor should have a clear idea and help if mentee don’t prioritize;
- Set up monitoring actions. So that mentee can constantly evaluate the progress or bugs of the project;
- Outline the economic planning. Essential for the success of the project, this is a very important issue and mentor should address problems if they arise.
The basics mentee learned thanks to mentor’s support during the validation of her business idea will accompany her forever, because they are the secret to achieve and maintain success, so she will need to keep going on market research, hire the best professionals and create a product or superior service compared to competitors.
Overall, the mentor has to help the mentee to know how to make important decisions, by:
- Identifying problems
- Evaluating situation and risks
- Analyzing available alternatives
- Making choices once the possible alternatives have been studied
- Making the commitment
- Implementing the decision and complying with it
Mentors’ triple role
During the business idea development, Mentors have a triple function:
- Business and career functions
The first kind of support is information: mentoring is based on the assumption that start-ups lack in knowledge and resources, so a mentor can advise them to plan the right strategy, whether in marketing, product development or financial analysis. Mentees, on the other hand, report that one of the activities from which they receive the most benefit is access to mentors’ networks. Business and career functions are useful during the first years of the business, when mentee needs help to improve the starting idea, the product, to better understand the market and to learn financial matters
- Psychological functions
Mentor helps both at business level and at psychological one. Mentor helps the entrepreneur to better understand mentees’ ambitions, goals and limits and he/she helps in recognizing the right direction to follow in the entrepreneurial career. Mentor reassures mentee in difficult moments or and motivates her/him in order to build resilience. He/she sets the right questions helping to address better negative emotions and recognizes the optimism bias calming mentees and helping them to have a more realistic mind-set.
- Role model functions
Often mentor acts as a role model due to his/her experience. Mentees can develop a mind-set that will help them better achieve their goals. The role modelling is considered to be among the most important because it provides values and features typical of the business world. The mentee, thanks to the path of his/her mentor, recognizes that his/her path is feasible and reachable
For a mentor, it is crucial to understand and recognize mentees’ skills and abilities in the start-up procedures in order to know how to address their sessions. These are the main characteristic to build a good mentoring path.
- Growth mind-set
This means knowing that the skills to become an entrepreneur can be learned over time. It is, therefore, the opposite of those who think that gifts are innate. Having this type of mindset helps you to accept criticism, to confront, to change your thinking and to put the advice into practice. The mentee must be interested and asks questions and he/she must recognize that his/her progress comes from his/her own effort and not just from the mentor.
- Coachability
The interaction between mentor and mentee is fundamental, the mentee must therefore be an open person and not rude, know-it-all or presumptuous. The relationship will fail in this case and the mentee will not follow the mentor’s advice. Mentees, therefore, should be able to transform criticism into opportunities for growth.
- Attitude
The mentee who, in general, faces the path and challenges with optimism is usually the one who will be most successful. Being dominated by negative feelings contrasts with the growth and change that a new entrepreneur will face. Furthermore, self-disclosure helps the new entrepreneur in building a successful relationship with his/her mentor.
Therefore, to become an entrepreneur, it is crucial to have the support from a mentor. According to a Nesta research, students in Universities supported by a mentor are more likely to set up an enterprise. This kind of programmes are very important to build an entrepreneurial mind-set and are needed at every stage of life, including school, university, as well as during a more mature stage of life.
