Stimulating SMME Growth Through Mentorship

With small and medium enterprises emerging as the backbone of our economy, it is vital that bigger businesses and captains of the industry ensure that entrepreneurs and small business owners are guided, nurtured and mentored.

The handing down of knowledge via storytelling and oral traditions is an age-old custom – one that continues to thrive in the modern era, but in many and varied formats. The digital epoch has catalysed access to shared wisdom like never before. Small businesses that are struggling to find their focus, create strategies, develop talent and hone their offerings can benefit now more than ever from the advice of mentors. 

Similar to the way that the youth rely on the sagacity of elders, small business owners rely on the guidance and examples of those that have gone before and succeeded, to find their way in a sea of opportunities. The responsibility to teach and mentor falls squarely on the shoulders of experts in their fields. But how do small businesses gain access to the wealth of information, knowledge and experience of stalwarts in their industry? Digital platforms are perhaps the best way to make content available to those who are thirsty for knowledge.

Gone are the days of having to be physically present to link mentor and mentee. In fact, connectivity is the very essence of digital or virtual mentorship. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, organisations were exploring ways to take mentorship to a broader audience, allowing greater connectivity in various business networks.

While one-on-one, in-person training is certainly engaging, it is, in many ways, restrictive. Time and geographical constraints limit access for both the mentor and the mentee and don’t allow the variety of options that digital mentorship does, options that now even include access to multiple and varied mentors. After all, careers in the present age are multifaceted and mentees may require more than one form of guidance.

There are several ways that digital mentorship can be implemented, from webinars to YouTube videos, apps to emails.

Over the past twenty years, web(semi)nars have become an invaluable device for knowledge-sharing. Whether live or on-demand, webinars allow mentors to teach, advise and share with a multitude of participants from all over the world. According to HubSpot, viewers in 2020 watched triple the number of webinars than they did in 2019 and the global webinar market is estimated to reach 800 million by 2023, strong evidence that webinars are in demand and hugely beneficial to viewers.

Mentors who tap into the potential of webinar tools can inspire, drive and empower entrepreneurs in an engaging and provocative way because they have a captive, interested audience who wants to learn from them and can do so remotely.

Videos that live online allow mentees to access the content at any time. YouTube has become an extremely popular content repository and mentors on the platform even have their own channels. It is important when creating YouTube mentorship content to ensure that your videos remain engaging always keeping the purpose of the video in mind and using tools such as titles and subtitles to underpin messaging. One of the greatest advantages of YouTube is the analytics that it provides. Content creators can measure viewership, click-throughs, time spent viewing, subscriber growth, demographics and audience retention to name but a few.

Statistics show that app downloads shot up by 23.3% during the pandemic. With the advent of remote working and unprecedented mobile engagement, apps are a tool that all businesses can leverage to their advantage and the advantage of their employees. Whether it’s using Zoom to engage with mentees, MicroMentor to connect small business owners with business mentors, WhatsApp to chat or Slack to create shared work environments, making mentorship accessible is easier than ever before.

Mentorship isn’t a one-way street. The most successful mentorship programmes allow for learning and engagement. It’s also not a one size fits all and each mentee is a unique individual with specific needs and wants. Customised email communication, whether following up on a session, checking on progress or presenting new material is one way to make sure that every individual in a mentorship programme feels seen, heard and nurtured. 

According to halo.com, 94% of employees say that they would stay at a company longer if they had mentorship programmes in place and 87% of mentors and mentees feel empowered by their mentorship experience. So, there’s no question that mentorship isn’t merely a nice-to-have, it’s an essential tool that does and will continue to contribute to the success and growth of small businesses.