“REN-CIPE is [about] teamwork, working together with a person who is blazing a trail for me to follow,” said Noeilin Escobar, mentee and owner of Velas Amazonia, “so that my journey is clearer and easier.”
Dismal statistics state that 90 percent of start-ups will fail. But mentorship can help turn such potential points for failure into opportunities for success. By identifying the toughest moments faced by aspiring and starting entrepreneurs – particularly those who are women – support can be better targeted so that such barriers can be overcome.
In a partnership with Red de Empresarias de Nicaragua (REN), CIPE accounted for the particularly difficult stages in the journey to becoming a successful women entrepreneur: transitioning from the classroom to practical experience in the workforce, moving from the informal to formal economy, getting through the first few years of operating your business, and then continuing to develop and grow your enterprise.
Through connecting a mentor with a successful business to a mentee who is just beginning her venture and a female university student studying business, CIPE and REN created a value chain of knowledge sharing.
Participants found that no matter their stage – mentor, mentee, intern – as a women entrepreneur, they benefited from this mentorship relationship. Pairing complementary businesses together, a mentor and mentee could learn from one another’s business strategy, in some cases, forming a business partnership.
Both mentors and mentees also valued their interns who brought energy, creativity, and inspiration for their products. For interns, the opportunity provided practical experience to supplement their academic coursework as well as a role model who could relate advice on balancing work-family roles to overcoming your fears.
Individually, the women of REN are dynamic, highly motivated, and can achieve what they set their minds to, despite operating in a challenging ecosystem with pervasive machismo culture. But in uniting within a supportive framework, women in REN have created a safe space for addressing personal and professional obstacles and nurturing their leadership skills. Mentorship has helped to unleash and magnify the full potential of each women entrepreneur.
Watch CIPE’s interview with REN participants here.
Stephanie Bandyk is a Program Assistant for Global Programs at CIPE.
