The joy of being a business mentor

 I recently had the privilege of being invited to speak on a panel hosted by Women's Economic Ventures, a Southern California based non-profit organization which I've been involved with in various capacities for the past couple of years and whom I'm very proud to support. The audience was comprised of women who are in "pre-entrepreneurship" mode, meaning they're currently assessing their business ideas, skills, and resources in order to determine whether entrepreneurship is the right path for them to pursue as a next step in life.

During the course of the evening my co-panelists and I pulled from direct real-world examples from our respective entrepreneurial journeys and shared these insights with the audience members based on our individual area of expertise. After the direct Q&A from the panel moderator, the floor was opened up to general Q&A from the audience. Not surprisingly, the audience members were extremely astute and it was really a pleasure to respond to their very well thought out questions.

The evening ended and I, along with the other panelists, said our good-byes and left. Given that these types of events are highly enjoyable for me, I drove home feeling very fulfilled by virtue of the opportunity to be of service to future entrepreneurs in such a meaningful way.

The good feelings didn't end there...in the past week since I participated in the panel discussion several of the audience members have sent me emails thanking me for my time and sharing their impressions regarding some of my insights/tips/ideas, etc. which have resonated with them. Then the other day at my office as I was going through my mail, I received a thank you note which was signed by several of the audience members along with personal notes expressing their gratitude under their signatures. Of course, this note was the best piece of snail mail which I had received all month and it totally made my day!

So why am I writing about this and why should you care? Well, there are actually many reasons, but here are the top three in my opinion:

1. If you're an established entrepreneur or business owner, you might want to explore the possibility of carving out some time in your busy schedule to mentor other existing or would-be entrepreneurs. There are well-publicized statistics indicating the tremendous increase in entrepreneurship in the US in the past 2+ years since the recession. There are ample opportunities for established and seasoned business owners to share their expertise with those who are just starting to go down that path. Your advice and insights will be highly valued and it will be one of, if not the most rewarding experience of your life - I highly recommend it.
2. On the flip side, if you're a budding (female) entrepreneur, I wholeheartedly encourage you to seek out mentors for your business. Ideally they would be in the same industry as you're seeking to establish yourself but they don't necessarily have to be. Get out there and don't be afraid to ask for help. You never know until you try but make it a point of your business strategy to surround yourself with strong advisers and mentors who can either be of direct assistance to you or who may have someone in their network who can. Give it a try - be kind and respectful but go for it.
3. As the numbers of entrepreneurs increase in our society, we need to have more organizations such as Women's Economic Ventures. The work that they to do educate, inspire and in many cases, help  (women) entrepreneurs seek funding is priceless, both for the entrepreneurs as well as for those of us who benefit from the goods and services produced by those entrepreneurs. They are the vital link between the new entrepreneur just starting out and the experienced and seasoned entrepreneur who has a wealth of wisdom, experience and advice to share.

My own personal experience with mentorship of other entrepreneurs/business owners has been an incredibly positive and fulfilling one. We each face challenges in our daily lives and once you commit to becoming an entrepreneur, you essentially sign up for embracing challenge on a daily, if not hourly basis. If you've been down that road and have been lucky enough to make it, then there is nothing more rewarding than to know that you're making a difference in the life of another person by extending a helping hand to continue that chain of positive influence past yourself. 

After all, none of us got to be where we are without the help of others and so in my humble opinion, it is a duty and a privilege to do the same for others.

Micro-Loans + Guidance/Direction = Fulfillment of Women's Entrepreneurial Dreams

Earlier today I came across an excellent article discussing the practices of a successful Israeli organization which provides microloans to women who wish to start their own entrepreneurial ventures IN ADDITION to providing these same women with needed business skills, knowledge and know-how.

I found this to be such a powerful and uplifting concept since one without the other simply is not enough - the two elements together, capital and mentorship/guidance are what so many women entrepreneurs need regardless of the specific part of the world in which they wish to launch their dreams. In the article, the CEO of the organization (Lena Gurary, CEO of Supportive Community) points out: A loan is worthless if a person is not given any direction and being given direction is worthless if you don't have the capital to start a serious small business," Lena says. "So first we prepare women and give them all the tools necessary to start or expand a business. Then we give them a small loan and see how it goes."

The program appears to be a success: according to the article, in six years of operation, the organization has grown exponentially, having been able to provide services to over 3,000 women with a full-time staff consisting of only seven members. Not only is the organization successful from a social perspective, financially it has proven to be extremely competitive with a default rate of only 3.4% of the total money loaned by the program.

So far as I'm aware a program of this specific kind doesn't exist in the United States. Yes, there are numerous women's business organizations, professional and social, et cetera, in addition to microfinance organizations and numerous non-profits dedicated to the cause of making a difference as it pertains to the status of women in poverty throughout the world. That said, the powerful one-two punch provided by Supportive Community seems to be a unique concept and is one that really should be applauded and should certainly be replicated. Women need not be in poverty to reap the benefits of such an amazing organization since the need for mentorship and the need for capital are key to any individual who seeks to pursue an entrepreneurial undertaking. Becoming an entrepreneur is difficult enough especially in today's business climate however efforts such as the kind being put forth by wonderful organizations such as Supportive Community help to reduce doubt and anxiety while increasing hope and confidence in the heart of the entrepreneur and that right there is more than half of the battle.

Below are some noteworthy organizations in need of our support, which provide some aspect of the microfinance, social awareness or mentorship efforts, each of which is a key element related to the struggle faced by small business owners regardless of where on this Earth they may choose to call home:

• KIVA (http://www.kiva.org/) - World's first person-to-person microlending site

• SCORE (www.score.org/) - Leveraging the knowledge and experience of retired business leaders to provide mentorship, counseling and training to new business owners/entrepreneurs

• Women for Women International (http://www.womenforwomen.org/) - Help women in war-torn regions of the world by providing financial and emotional support, job skills training, rights awareness, and small business assistance

• Supportive Community - English translation of website (http://www.svivatomehet.org.il)