MentorNet Program

The Australian Businesswomen's Network was founded in 1990. Each year we service our 20,000 community members though programs, publications and access to role models and resources. We also provide advocacy and guidance for women business owners.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The Australian Businesswomen's Network provides business education for women across Australia and facilitates opportunities for them to network, learn and be inspired by role models and by each other.

Women come to us for

· Education

· Inspiration

· Networking

As a business owner myself I understand the importance of mentoring.

For seven years we ran a face-to-face mentoring program. It worked well but

a) Limited us to the geographic region of our state

b) Women had to leave their home/office/children to travel for the program adding to their already busy lives

In 2007 with the help of a government grant par of the Building Entrepreneurship in Small Business Program, we developed a national program that uses the latest online technology to allow women to work both during the day and in their own hours to learn, collaborate and develop business plans.

The MentorNet program has been the result of $250,000 in development, curriculum design using experts in the US, UK and in Australia to create a virtual learning environment.

Since that time we have put 120 women through the program with a goal to have 1000 women go through in the next three years.

A bit about the Australian Marketplace

· Of the 1.5 million small businesses in Australia, 465, 000 of them are women-owned. That's 30%.

· Many of these women work from home and have less than 5 employees. Regardless they work more hours than their employee counterparts and often juggle the care of young children with building a small business.

· Most women in business are in the 30-49 age-bracket. Only 8% are less than 30 years old.

When we started we aimed the program at women under 35. Our community however reflects the fact that most women are 30-49 and so we've expanded our criteria to accept women of all ages.

Why MentorNet was necessary

In order to encourage young women in entrepreneurship some fundamental things have to change.

1. Entrepreneurship needs to become a recognized option for career, promoted at schools

2. Mentoring needs to be provided to give women a safety net to advance in their own business

The other thing is that today's young women operate very differently in business that what we did 10 years ago.

They network online, they have Facebook and MySpace profiles, they text their friends, they listen to pod casts on their i-pods and in they spend time watching video – many spending time on You Tube.

These technologies, while seemingly frivolous, are the same technologies that business is now harnessing for knowledge management, and in cases such as ours, and with the help of university lecturers in the area of e-Learning, for the delivery of education and mentoring.

Young women are very used to doing business online.

MentorNet has been developed with this in mind and the program uses technology normally reserved for large corporations in a way that allows women to work both during the regular working hours and also in the hours that they steal between feeding children and taking care of the home, to further their work online - to build their business plans and to work on growing their businesses.

How does it work?

Mentors (men or women with over five years business experience) provide mentoring to women following a structured and planned approach to business building. The program covers business skills development training, mentoring and peer collaboration. Subject-matter experts facilitate educational seminars (web seminars) to deliver business skills training.

The program uses up-to-the-minute e-learning technology (including the internet, webinars, wikis, blogs and teleconferences) to deliver information, education, networking and mentoring. MentorNet is delivered over a six-month period.

Who is eligible to participate?

All participants (both mentors and mentored) in the program must be operating a business within Australia.

Mentors may be men or women who have owned and operated their business for a minimum of five years. Mentors can be located nationally, even globally and we have two mentors from the USA currently participating in our program. Each mentor supports up to four mentorees.

Mentoree positions are available to women who have been in business for at least six months and operate their business within Australia. Mentorees can be located anywhere in Australia.

Program overview:

The program provides women entrepreneurs with structured business training, consolidated by peer group collaboration, and is enriched by the value of working with successful businesspeople in a mentor relationship.

Program outcomes and duration:

Structured business skills training: By the end of program (which runs for six months), participants create a detailed business plan incorporating marketing, operations and financial plans. They receive training in core business development skills and collaborate with a growing network of peers.

An alumni program has been developed where graduates can network with graduates from past programs, building a focused networking group within our community.

Mentor relationships:

Six months of small group mentoring and peer support concurrent with business skills training. By the end of this period, participants have consolidated the business skills trainings, identified deficiencies in their skills and taken appropriate action to train in these areas. The mentors will have provided guidance and direction in business management and provided coaching and encouragement. The mentor commitment is approx 25 hours over six months.

Both mentors and mentorees will have expanded their national networks and made contacts that can provide ongoing support after the completion of the program. The role of the mentor and peer collaboration should greatly increase the feedback, commitment and accountability of meeting these targets.

Business Skills Training

Expert presenters provide training on Business Planning, Financial Management, Marketing, Human Resource, Business Management and the use of Social Media and Technology. The participants are provided a series of case studies of examples of businesses doing things well, and not so well and asked to blog, or journal, their responses to key questions that are then debriefed in a Weimar presentation.

What is a webinar?

A webinar is a web-based seminar. Our webinars are very collaborative and include polling and question & answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter.

Plus we have eliminated the need to travel in order to study, network and be inspired!

To participate in the webinars you will need high-speed Internet and access to a separate phone line. This is fine for most of the country but unfortunately not all of Australia has high speed. We are speaking with the government, as this is an issue that affects business all-round.

How people are recruited

We have developed a dedicated information site at hermentor.com.au.

Additionally we hold a 30-minute one on one consultation to determine their business needs and if they are ready for a mentor. These sessions, regardless of whether they go on to do the program, allow women to get clear on their vision for their business.

Additionally we use direct mail, email and website marketing as well as alliance relationships with other women's groups.

^{The future of MentorNet}

It is a model that we'd like to roll out internationally. I'm off to the US next week to speak to some organizations there about it. It's a modern, powerful program that produces results such as these:

In a recent survey of participants of the ABN’s mentoring program, MentorNet, we found:

- 100% of Mentorees increased their business skills

- 100% of Mentorees have more direction in their business

- 100% expanded their networks

Yes, we too think that’s incredible. AND it’s true!

Testimonials from Mentorees:

I learned the value of working on my business. As a result of deprogram I have employed staff.

Tina Tower - Reach Education Centre

I have re-grained my confidence

Susse Linton - Susse Collection

I am so grateful for this opportunity to lay the foundations for the next 5 years

Lisa Gorman, Living Purpose

MentorNet forces me to set aside time to work on my business

Belinda Peace - Fuzzy Advertising

MentorNet has given me a renewed focus on my business

Alycia Edgar - Coastal Accounting

Every step of this journey has been an educational one

Stephanie Lee - Alive Personal Training

I am more confident in my self that I can take my business to where I want it to go.

Maria Ganis, Personal and Professional Life Coach, Enosis International

The inspiration I have gained is impossible for me to grasp

Louise Jordan - Little Devils Recreation

Working with my mentor has created more revenue for our business.

Annalisa Holmes – The Transcription People

From the Mentors:

I gain immense satisfaction from providing encouragement to my

mentorees

Susan McGrath, Susan McGrath Consulting

The sharing of ideas and experiences will really fast track your growth as an entrepreneur.

Dennis Roberts, The Coaching Professionals

hermentor.com.au

herbusinessmentor.com

suzi@abn.org.au