What is mentoring , why do we need it, and how do we get one?

Mentoring is a cooperative and nurturing relationship between a more experienced business person and a less experienced business person who wants to learn about a particular business and gain valuable insight into some of the unspoken subtleties of doing business.

Research indicates mentoring is one of the crucial and important factors in business success. Having a mentor or going through some type of mentoring program dramatically increases one's chances for success. Although it is not fatal to lack a mentor, it certainly helps one a great deal to have one, both in technical and conceptual knowledge, learning from a broad base of experience and rapidly gaining a wealth of contacts. Being mentored by the right person is an important and viable bridge to success.

The Mentoring Process and Benefits

SBA Mentoring Guidelines to give you some idea of the time requirements and experience level they consider necessary to produce a good mentoring result.

Formal Mentoring Organizations

MentorNet for Women in Engineering and Science

Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training a mentoring and support group, sponsored by the Women's Business Office of the SBA