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Mentoring days involve one-to-one consultancy,
and the provision of practical advice and assistance that
will help you to consider the issues that you are facing in
a new way. You will have the benefit of talking to an experienced
business person who has skills that can help you to take your
business to the next level.
The mentoring relationship is generally informal,
and sessions may take place over a coffee. Alternatively they
might take the form of more structured meetings, at the mentee’s
business premises or elsewhere.
The mentoring process will often start with
a discussion about the nature of the problem that the entrepreneur
is facing, along with a more general introduction to the business
and its activities, customers, market, competitors, suppliers
and so on.
This may lead on to a two-way discussion
that includes an element of brain-storming, coming up with
new ideas that draw on the experiences of both the mentor
and mentee.
Once new ideas and approaches have been discussed,
the pair might consider in some detail how each of the various
suggestions could be put into practice within this particular
organisation. Logistics, costs, training needs and any other
relevant considerations would be talked about.
In most cases, the mentee would then have
a period of time in which to implement the recommended solution
to the problem. One or more follow-up meetings would be arranged
over the next few weeks, at which the mentor and mentee could
discuss how the idea worked in practice, and make any alterations
based on feedback or observations.
While the overseas mentor might only be in
Kenya for a short period of time, the mentoring relationship
could in most cases continue for as long as needed by email
and other forms of remote communication (which is free of
charge).
A case study
Elijah is a thirty-five year old entrepreneur
who has been educated up to secondary level and runs a mobile
phone shop in Nairobi, Kenya.
James is a thirty-year-old chartered accountant
with seven years’ experience since qualifying with a
major London financial services firm.
Elijah discusses his needs with one of our
facilitators and decides that he requires inputs on managing
his finances and his four employees effectively.
James attends our induction course and assesses
that the main skills he can offer are cash flow planning,
book-keeping and managing staff.
James visits Elijah in his shop to see how
his business operates and then spends a day with him every
two weeks at our campus for three months.
Elijah discusses his ideas for finances and
staff with James, sets up new systems, learns skills and inspires
James to rethink his own approaches!
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