Mentor Functions for Novice Entrepreneurs

ABSTRACT In the past few years, we have witnessed the birth of new mentoring programs, which consist in twining a novice entrepreneur with an experienced entrepreneur (also known as business mentoring). The literature on mentoring in large organization (where the protege is an employee in the hierarchy) highlights that the mentor exerts three main categories of functions: psychological, career-related, and role model. This research aims to explore and to validate mentor functions for novice entrepreneurs. At first, a qualitative analysis based on focus groups including 51 mentees and 8 mentors was carried out. The theoretical proposal was then validated by a group of three experts in business mentoring. Finally, confirmatory factor analyses using LISREL were carried out on a sample of 360 mentees taking part in the mentoring program of the Fondation de l'entrepreneurship network, an organization which has twined more than 3500 novice entrepreneurs since the year 2000. The analyses confirm four psychological functions (reflector, reassurance, motivation, and confidant), four entrepreneurial career-related functions (integration, information support, confrontation, and guide) and a role model function. These results are useful to raise the awareness of volunteer mentors about functions they may likely exert when they are twined with novice entrepreneurs. INTRODUCTION For the past few years, we have implemented programs to support novice entrepreneurs in the years following the starting of their business. One of the processes proposed involves pairing up a novice entrepreneur with an experienced entrepreneur, who provides advice and ways of thinking to help the novice avoid costly and even fatal mistakes (St- Jean et Audet, Under press; Sullivan, 2000). For example, the American SCORE1 program, founded in the seventies and funded by Small Business Administration (SBA), supported more than eight million small business managers through its network of over 12,000 volunteer mentors. In Europe, other similar initiatives exist such as that supported by the Business Link in England, the Mentor Eget Foretag program in Sweden or France Initiative (in France), with nearly 5,000 volunteer mentors, to name just a few of these programs. Some studies suggest that novice entrepreneurs may benefit from many types of different outcomes, including cognitive learning (new knowledge and skills, improved business vision and opportunity recognition), affective learning (reduced solitude, improved self-efficacy and self-image), new contacts, and even changes in the SME (increased sales or improved profitability) (Bisk, 2002; Nandram, 2003; StJean, 2008; Wikholm et al, 2005). Although outcomes for the novice entrepreneur are better known, mentor roles helping their development are practically unknown to this day. Yet, scientific literature on mentoring in other contexts has explored mentor roles on numerous occasions, particularly in large organizations where an employee identified as having potential (protege ) is matched with another in a hierarchical position (mentor). These mentor functions even constitute a measure of the mentoring received by the protege. The present study will attempt to bridge this gap by documenting mentor functions in entrepreneurs within the context of the business mentoring network of the Fondation de I 'entrepreneurship. To do so, a review of the scientific literature used to define the concept will first be presented. Since this literature has not offered enough details on the study's subject, an exploratory analysis was necessary and will then be exposed. Subsequently, the entire confirmatory study, which proves the empirical validity of mentor functions, will be presented. Finally, results will be discussed as well as avenues for future research. LITERATURE REVIEW Mentor functions in large organizations Kram (1985) suggests that mentors plays two main functions towards the protege: a career-related function and a psychological function. …