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Assistance Provided to Protégés
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Posted On: Tuesday December 30th, 2003 at 12:00am EST
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Minority business owners spend most of their time trying to perform the contracts and the rest of the time searching for new contracts, very little time is left for business management. The results is that the operational structure of the business is often fractured, characterized by poorly maintained accounting systems (if one is in place); business activities that are not in concert with the company’s goals and objectives because there is no structured business plan; haphazard marketing strategies; and, inadequate or no policies and procedures regulating employer/employee interactions. If left unattended, each of these areas can lead to catastrophic failure of the business. A well structured mentor/protég?agreement can address these deficiencies with the mentor leading the way.
Typically, a specific level of assistance is provided by mentors to their protégés. The actual assistance is usually related to the needs of the protégés.
Access to Capital, historically, has served as a primary need of many protégés. It is not uncommon for mentors to assist protégés through:
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Facilitating otherwise unobtainable loans and lines of credit from lending institutions or internally operated financing vehicles.
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Lending or helping to secure reasonable purchases (i.e. equipment, work facilities, etc.).
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Technical Assistance and skills sharing is also a key component to the relationship. Protégés can anticipate the sharing of business expertise including (but not limited to) production, inventory control, quality assurance, bidding, marketing, document analysis and more.
Subcontracting Opportunities may be included as a key benefit to the protég? Mentors may offer non-competitive subcontracts to protégés. In this way, protégés enhance their experience working in the industry and they can parlay this experience into successfully bidding on contracts with other companies and governmental agencies.
Access to Networks is arguably one of the greatest features provided to the protég? Some mentors showcase their protégés by including them in important projects and getting them involved in high profile organizations where they can network with other corporate executives. |
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