Saturday, July 12, 2014

The Value Of Start Up Mentoring Programs

By Rosella Campbell


Most businesses will collapse or succeed based on the strength of their foundations. Start up mentoring supports businesses at infancy to help them overcome the challenges of that are likely to overwhelm them. The businesses rely on the expertise, resources and experience of the mentors to find footing and begin to build their own structures.

Most businesses are based on an idea and started by individuals with no prior experience in this area. This causes excellent ideas to die off, not because they were unworkable, but only lacked the support and guidance required at that delicate moment. This makes it necessary and beneficial to work with a person who has been in such an industry.

Mentors are universally accepted pillars of success. They help individuals and businesses to maximally utilize the meager resources available at the start. One can identify priorities at each stage and take full advantage of them.

Businesses have to deal with the challenge of finances. The seasonal nature of many ventures calls for prudence in approach. The mentors have an idea of where cheap credit can be obtained in order to take full advantage of prevailing conditions. Financial is also likely to eat up your resources if not handled in a professional manner.

Approval of your idea by industry players gives start-ups the confidence to approach the market. Such programs come with introduction to potential clients who are more willing to deal with you if you have a seasoned entrepreneur behind you. Such a move is important as you seek to build a brand and gain valuable market share.

The lessons learned during the mentor-ship phase help you to understand the context you are running your business. It also comes with introduction to worthy associates, partners, processes and procedures that help to accelerate growth. It means that you do not learn from own mistakes. Rather, you tap into the successes and strengths of other people who have walked the same road.

Mentors help in monitoring your pace and advising you on how to control growth and expansion. They guide you on market approach to avoid stretching your resources in an unnecessary manner that will hurt your young business. There are accelerators in every business and they should be engaged at the right time.

Commercialization of dreams and ideas is a delicate matter which leads to the death of most of them. It requires a lot of planning especially on market approach. Not all ideas are implemented in their original format. The implementation also takes phases which determine success or failure.

Ideas go through deconstruction and rethinking in order to make them commercially viable. The aim of this phase is to make them attractive to the market. The experience mentors have helps to create products and brands that can be accepted easily. Market approach is also critical in determining the possibility and speed of success.

Self expression is very important during mentoring. It allows your mentor to understand the idea and intended goals. An open mind is required so that suggestions made are implemented. Too much change however, may result in a totally different object, service or idea.




About the Author:



No comments: