During my recent travels to the USA, I came across an incredible organisation that has been making a real difference in supporting businesses across the economy.
Set up more than 50 years ago, SCORE is a not-for-profit association dedicated to helping small firms through mentoring delivered by a network of over 11,000 volunteers.
In 2015 alone, these SCORE mentors helped to start 53,377 new businesses, created 65,125 jobs and supported 72 per cent of its clients to increase sales.
Given this, it is not surprising that mentoring i.e. when a relationship is formed with someone who is willing to offer advice, guidance and support to help improve an organisation, is possibly one of the most effective forms of business support available.
In fact, a study from the software company SAGE that surveyed over 11,000 small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in seventeen countries found that an overwhelming number recognised that mentoring can help them to succeed.
In addition, data from the USA has shown that firms receiving three or more hours of mentoring get a boost in sales and market share with over two thirds of new businesses that had been mentored still in existence after five years, double the survival rate of those that had not received such support.
Yet despite this, research by the UK Government has shown that very few firms actually take advantage of this type of support.
For example, while a third of SMEs will seek external information or advice, most of this will come from accountants or other professionals with only two per cent of those receiving it from a mentor or mentoring organisation.
So why aren’t mentors being used by SMEs in the UK?
Much of it is to do with understanding and information with four out of ten SMEs that had not used a mentor unsure of where to start looking for this type of support, with many unfamiliar with what they did to support firms. In addition, very few thought it was easy to find a mentor, especially in their sector.
Whilst only half of all SMEs would trust the guidance of a mentor, this proportion went up to 74 per cent of SMEs that had used a mentor, suggesting that a lack of experience of using a mentor may result in mistrust in the concept.
In terms of what type of mentors they wanted, the most important characteristics demanded from SMEs of their potential mentors is proven success in business, access to networks and having experience of the sector in which the SME is based.
The good news for Welsh businesses is that there is a specific initiative - the Business Wales Mentoring Programme – which provides a matching service for SMEs that would like opportunity to connect with experienced business mentors who will share their knowledge, provide guidance, bring fresh perspectives and act as a sounding board.
Certainly, I would urge as many SMEs as possible to look for that support from Business Wales to help them develop their business potential in the future.
Yet it is not just about encouraging more businesses to make the use of mentors but to get more executives and business owners to consider becoming mentors themselves.
Not only can this develop other businesses in their locality but becoming involved in mentoring can also help them, as individuals, to develop their leadership style, reflect on their own skills and enhance their professional network.
In fact, a recent article from the Harvard Business Review found that many leading mentors saw the process not as a one-way stream of information but as a process of mutual exchange where “give and take” was at the heart of what they derived from the experience.
Some of this was in terms of new knowledge from those they were mentoring, especially if they came from different backgrounds or were operating in new sectors of the economy where change was ever-present.
Also, it would seem that many of those mentors were using the relationship to undertake some self-reflection themselves as it enabled them to spend some time away from their own businesses helping someone else.
Indeed, those executives who were acting as mentors to others appreciated the opportunity to escape their daily work routines as focusing on someone else’s challenges gave them new perspectives on their own organisations.
But mentoring was also rewarding personally to such executives as it made them better coaches, made them more confident in their abilities and understand what they could do to support others.
Therefore, not only is it important to get more SMEs in Wales to consider having mentors to help with their business but also to get more entrepreneurs to get involved in mentoring themselves as it can be rewarding for both in quite different ways.