The Mentor of Mentor Programme is a national business development initiative that supports the aims of accelerated growth in emerging businesses nationwide by providing skills training, mentoring and peer to peer contact for enterprise development support teams, namely mentors.

Open to mentors across a range of sectors, including agriculture, construction, tourism, craft & manufacturing the programme supports enterprise development success, by providing guidance, support and skills training to mentors, often Volunteers and part time/ retired individuals

Programme participation can be as an individual or as a corporate member. It is a train the trainer programme, so muliplier value is high, and one well-trained mentor can support many emerging businesses. For current rates please contact info@fetola.co.za

This is a new programme being offered to mentors from a wide range of sectors.

The Mentor of Mentor programme emerged from identified need in the sector. Many mentors are firstly businessmen and women, and only secondly mentors. The programme addresses the gap in skills by providing specific skills training for mentors plus peer to peer contact and Mentor of mentors support

Catherine Wijnberg of Fetola & Associates became aware of common challenges amongst part time and voluntary mentors who may be excellent specialists in their own field, but who are unfamiliar with conflict resolution, communication, results by encouragement and other mentor challenges. The isolation of working as a mentor whilst supporting others can be an exhausting process – by improving skills, sharing common challenges and having access to ones own support team, this process can be improved.

Female and male mentors are accepted into the programme

The criteria for accepting participants into the mentor of mentors programme include the following

1. They should be mentors in an enterprise development / entrepreneurship programme

2. Show willingness to learn and to engage in personal change process

4. Have Access to communications (email and cellphone)

5. Be able to communicate in English (currently)

6. Be educated with at least a matric qualification

Experience has shown that attitude defines success, & this is especially true as a mentor. Learning involves change, and thus a flexibility and willingness to change is essential

The Mentor Programme offers CSI partners and ED funders an ideal opportunity to accelerate the success of existing enterprise development programmes by providing capacity building for critical role-players.

Mentor fatigue is a common challenge in any longterm programme, and providing mentors with access to new skills, their own personal mentor support and most importantly a peer group network provides an excellent way to improve success rate and maximise programme returns.

The programme is fully sustainable as the participants are not dependent on the programme for financial or management support, but receive skills training, peer to peer contact, templates and methods, and Senior mentor guidance to improve their.

The ongoing existence of the mentor of mentors programme is however fully dependent on participant fees and external funding from supporters such as CSI, local Government and international donor funders.

The mentor of mentors programme reduces poverty, creates jobs and develops skills by building capacity in the key drivers of enterprise development success, namely the mentors

Fetola & Associates manages the programme in its entirety, from developing & implementing the annual programme, proposing & managing the annual budget to creating and implementing new innovations. Skills training, peer contact and mentor support is implemented through a network of skilled & experienced individuals under instruction from F&A. The skills training materials and methods are all designed & managed by Fetola & Associates.

We take performance measurement very seriously and are constantly seeking ways to fine-tune  this, showing where possible the cost:benefit of our interventions. The impact of the Mentor of Mentors programme is ultimately measured in terms of improved skills and capability of the mentors.

Direct Impact measures include changes in Mentor skills, measured through formal feedback and anecdotal individual success stories

The programme is also assessed in terms of its broader impact in sharing the lessons learnt with peers in the Enterprise Development industry, and in media exposure for supporters and funders. Annual media & PR value is a financial measurement of the reach of media and PR activities.

The Mentor of Mentors programme utilises both push (proactive) and pull (holistic) mechanisms in its design & implementation.

The pull/proactive process: Our skilled and experienced senior mentors have created proven mentor skills methods & training courses that meet the needs of small businesses mentors across all sectors. These skills training courses use education & training to encourage participants to reach new heights.

The holistic/push process: Regular feedback through ongoing contact with mentors, formal feedback systems and the shared learning network ensures that participants can make their needs known, ensuring that the programme remains responsive and in touch with participant needs.

It is the combination of this pull and push methos that makes the programme so successful.

The Mentor of Mentors programme is designed to support mentors in the entrepreneurial sector. It is a continual innovation process and seeks to be a benchmark of success. Notable programme innovations include:

The Mentor Skills training which provides essential tools for mentors in the entrepreneurial environment. Training includes communications, negotiation and conflict resolution and a range of business support skills such as time management, leadership, vision creation & goal setting.

The Mentor Hotline© which provides expertise to mentors throughout the country via email and cellphone on a 24/7 basis. This exciting innovation reduces the cost of mentor support and makes expert assistance available to participants around the country, even where access to computers is difficult.

FULL MEMBERS ONLY Access to a full range of Basic Business Building Blocks© which include templates designed specifically for SMMEs in South Africa. One of the critical problems in South Africa is that the enterprise development skills training that is offered is too theoretical and pitched at too high a level for small and emerging businesses. Our BBBB templates and Business Skills training manuals are specifically designed in simple, accessible user-friendly terms, and have a 95% satisfaction rate amongst learners.

FULL MEMBERS ONLY Access to Business systems including piece-work production management, simple CRM, sales reporting, time management, financial management suited to manual and simple computerised use. The problem in South Africa is that most of the business systems are aimed at to high a level and are not suited to small and emerging businesses. We have designed customised simple user-friendly systems that are ideal for this target audience.