Have you felt “lonely” running your business? Who do you learn from, or who can you turn to for advice? How best to navigate challenges thrown your way? Are you making the right decisions? This is where mentorship can be a game-changer for female entrepreneurs, offering invaluable business guidance, support and wisdom. Mentorship offers tailored guidance and support that can propel female entrepreneurs toward their goals. Whether seeking a mentor or becoming one, these relationships can be transformative, creating lasting impacts on both personal and professional levels.
With mentorship, you can gain:
- Confidence and Clarity: Helps clarify vision and boost confidence for bold steps.
- Skill Development: Shares expertise to grow your business.
- Networking Opportunities: Opens doors to valuable contacts.
- Emotional Support: Offers empathy and understanding on a sometimes isolating journey.
Through WENStart, WEN’s Mentorship Program, our objective was to create positive real-life impact for our mentees on their business and themselves.
Vanessa Misso-Venness shared how her mentor helped her with her product and her self-esteem. “She helped me formulate a coaching package for my clients, which I’ve since offered and she has been my cheerleader, helping me appreciate my own worth as a business owner!”
Nicole Chabot shared how her mentor’s empathy helped her navigate difficult decisions: “I think it was her continual empathy. I was agonizing over pricing and she said it was always difficult and you just needed to decide. It helped me make decisions and go for it more than otherwise.”
Ruchi Bhave benefited from her mentor’s practical advice: “My mentor asked me not to spend money on marketing. Since then I have evaluated every marketing opportunity that has come my way. I have strived towards collaborations and barter system.”
Mentoring also brings benefit to both the mentor and mentee. As Jessica Yuen found, “mentor and mentee both learn a lot about their (respective) businesses and gain from each other’s experiences”.
So how does one get the most out of a mentoring relationship? We asked our graduates from the WenStart program and collated their top tips:
- You don’t need to stick to just one mentor for the long term. As you and your business progresses, re-evaluate what your needs are and take on different mentors.
- You also have the choice to change mentors if you find that your current mentor is not a good fit for you.
- You just need to speak up and end the mentoring relationship politely.
- Come prepared to not just maximise meeting time but also respect your mentor’s time. Ruchi prepared agendas in advance, wrote all her questions down and shared them on a Google Drive with her mentor.
- You can give back too! Nicole ended each mentoring session by giving a book recommendation to her mentor.
- Go into the mentoring relationship with a growth mindset. Vanessa Misso-Veness had wise words about the mentoring mindset: “To choose to be mentored means to be open to receiving and learning”.
Mentorship is a powerful tool for unlocking potential and driving success. Consider joining or becoming a mentor for WENStart to inspire and support the next generation of women entrepreneurs.
