Cape-based ICT incubator, the UUNET Bandwidth Barn, has launched the "My Mentor" programme to help early stage ventures expand into actively growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
A lesson learned from the Launch Pad project, which was started this year to aid newly created companies, was that these companies continued to thrive if they partook in sustained mentoring, says Bandwidth Barn GM, Odette Potter.
"We noticed those companies that graduated from the project and built on their early success were the ones that stuck to using their mentors," she says.
An investigation into mentorship programmes in SA was done and there were few that complied with international best practice, says Potter.
The programme created for the Bandwidth Barn companies was designed and is being run by consulting company Pearce Delport and Associates. The programme will match companies with mentors who have extensive, hands-on experience in managing and growing start-up companies.
"Research by the City of Cape Town shows there are roughly 60 000 SMEs in Cape Town. The most successful of these probably account for 50% of new jobs created in the local economy. It is clear that ensuring our start-ups have access to in-depth business expertise is paramount for a flourishing Cape Town economy," says John Pearce, co-founder of Pearce Delport and Associates.
The form of mentoring being used in My Mentor is not the same as coaching or training, says Pearce. Mentors should not be confused with counsellors, non-executive directors nor professional advisors. My Mentor uses an international approach where, unlike a coach, a mentor is expected to offer advice, he says.
There has been a lot of confusion about the true nature of mentoring in SA, he says. "Because the mentors give their assistance free, it fundamentally alters the relationship between mentor and 'mentee`. Mentoring is voluntary - it is a gift from someone who has been there to someone whom they genuinely want to see succeed."
The Bandwidth Barn will start a new Launch Pad project early next year for start-up ICT companies.
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