Entrepreneurial Mentoring to Boost Business

Translation of Article Written and published by LatinPyme, Business Development Center Featuring Juan Bermudez

January 7, 2023 

Business mentoring is a key process of support for entrepreneurs to develop their businesses through continued learning. Mentoring is based on knowledge, expertise and skills of expert tutors who shed renewed views on issues and needs of the organization, in the aim of improving the achievement of results.

According to Juan David Castaño, Vice President of Business Development of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce (CCB), entrepreneurial mentoring is vital because, at present, 99.9% of companies show logistical, technical, financial, human management or other type of organizational concerns that, possibly, others have already overcome and, hence, their experience might help to solve such concerns.

Although there are different levels of mentoring in terms of focus and duration, Ana Carolina Martínez, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Development at ICESI University, underlines that, to profit such processes it is crucial to bear in mind that different routes and queries will arise, unlike consultancy or advice; in this case, the entrepreneur and his team must solve the issues and be willing to follow the course of action proposed for resolution of different situations.

Given the importance of mentoring in building the country's business fabric, entities such as the Bogota Chamber of Commerce have in place a system of ongoing programs that, during this year, have served some 7 thousand entrepreneurs, advised by a network with more than a thousand mentors committed to exchange experiences to empower others for subsequent empowerment of others. 

For the ICESI University specialist, in this type of support it is of utmost importance “to be willing to push beyond your comfort zone and be critical to measure the impact on the organization, as this type of actions largely depends on the communication flow between the mentor and the entrepreneur and the willingness to make changes within the organization”.

Companies may require business mentoring; however, as explained by Juan Fernando Bermúdez, mentor and cofounder of BM Mentors —a company specialized in mentoring—, the way in which mentoring is implemented will vary depending on the company’s size and needs, as well as other factors, such as urgency and availability among senior officers.

Bermúdez recommends analyzing whether the company’s concerns or needs relate to its environment, growth, and leadership, to past wrong decisions, or to failures in human or financial resource management, with the aim of identifying the type of mentoring required.

How to get the most out of it? 

According to BM Mentors’ co-founder, once the entrepreneur and his team find and identify the need for business mentoring, the best way to get the most out of it includes the following:

1. Facilitate access and information for mentors to ensure more accurate diagnoses.

2. Appoint project leaders and empower them to manage actions and key moments under the mentorship, alongside the areas involved in the organization.

3. Ensure support for mentoring processes by highlighting the project’s objectives and overall vision.

4. Allocate all resources needed to ensure success of the process.

5. Support the process and ensure timely follow-up and implementation of all actions jointly identified and recommended.

Article written by LatinPyme, Center for Entrepreneurship Development Featuring:

Juan David Castaño

Vice President of Business Development of the Bogota Chamber of Commerce

Ana Carolina Martínez

Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship Development at ICESI University

Juan Fernando Bermúdez

Mentor and co-founder of the mentoring firm BM Mentors

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