Get Answers to Business Challenges

 

 

 

Do you need advice on running your business but can't afford costly consultants? There are free resources available, including MicroMentor,  a nonprofit launched in 2001.

 

Q: What is MicroMentor?
A: This free, Web-based service connects low-income start-ups and business owners-called "microentrepreneurs"-with successful business owners and managers. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs and mentors participate nationwide.

 

Q: What kind of services do mentors provide?
A: Mentors provide entrepreneurs with advice and counseling on business plan writing, online sales, time management, marketing, Web site development, and finance management, among other topics. Mentoring relationships generally take place via e-mail or phone and are confidential.

 

Q: Who can participate?
A: MicroMentor services are aimed at businesses that were launched with less than $35,000 and have fewer than five employees. Entrepreneurs can work with up to three mentors at any given time.

 

Volunteer business mentors are required to have at least three years of business ownership or five years of business management experience. Mentors can work with as many entrepreneurs as they have time for. Both mentors and entrepreneurs should set aside three to six hours per month for each mentoring relationship.

 

Q: How does it work?
A: Each mentor and entrepreneur creates an account and searches MicroMentor's profiles to find a connection based on industry, expertise, and other criteria. Then, a match request is sent, which the mentor or entrepreneur can accept or decline. Once a request is accepted, names and e-mail addresses are exchanged and the mentoring relationship begins.

 

By mid-2008, MicroMentor will incorporate more social networking and immediate mentoring options, including virtual advisory boards and forums for quick or frequently asked business questions. The site will also allow participants to provide feedback and ratings on their mentoring relationship.

 

 

After managing an arts and craft store for nine years, Rose Sabel-Dodge of Portland, Oregon, was ready to open her own fiber arts and craft shop specializing in natural supplies. Though skilled in managing inventory and running a business day-to-day, Sabel-Dodge lacked knowledge about other aspects of business ownership. "I didn't know about cash flow charts or how to write a business plan," she says.

 

For answers, Sabel-Dodge turned to a mentor she found through MicroMentor. Sabel-Dodge had firm criteria in mind when she began reviewing mentor profiles on MicroMentor's Web site in July 2007. "I wanted someone with a lot of experience and someone who was good at organization. It wasn't important that they were in my field or located near me."

 

Sabel-Dodge picked a Maryland-based mentor with more than 10 years' experience in running businesses. Thus began a three-month mentoring relationship that helped her navigate the technical aspects of starting a business. In November, she opened her store, Gossamer, in downtown Portland.

 

Sabel-Dodge and her mentor exchanged e-mails once a week, and he assisted her in creating a business plan that helped her get the $25,000 she needed for start-up. In addition, he helped her analyze potential revenue streams, including offering crafting classes. "Classes were something that were in the back of my mind, and he made me look at them as an income source," she says.

 

Most important, Sabel-Dodge's mentor helped her define her business and potential customers, enabling her to market and advertise effectively. She is targeting the burgeoning Portland-area crafting community by advertising on crafting blogs and Web sites and adding names to her customer mailing list.

 

She says she would use MicroMentor again if any other business issues come up. "I hope some day I can be a mentor, but I'm not quite ready just yet."