The Autoocupació mentoring program for entrepreneurs is growing

19 July 2018

With the aim of helping entrepreneurs consolidate and grow newly created businesses throughout the Catalan territory, Autoocupació is extending the mentoring methodology to the Federació de Cooperatives de Treball de Catalunya, Barcelona Activa, and 11 city councils in the province of Barcelona and their Local Business Service Centers.  

Mentoring offers a personalized support methodology through which business owners share, for one year and as volunteers, their experience with entrepreneurs who have started their business project.

            Thanks to mentoring, the entrepreneurs participating in the organizations’ programs become the protagonists of their personal and professional growth by taking advantage of the experience of mentors who have already gone through this process. This is why mentoring promotes the development of their skills as business owners with the aim of facing new challenges, evaluating different alternatives, and strengthening decision-making. This methodology, successfully developed in more than 50 countries worldwide thanks to the Youth Business International network, has already demonstrated its impact in Spain. According to the study prepared by PwC, companies participating in the program double their turnover and increase their workforces by 60%. Furthermore, the study highlights that the survival rate after 5 years for mentored companies is 87%, more than double the Spanish average. Through mentoring and collaboration with organizations such as the FCTC, city councils, and Barcelona Activa, Autoocupació succeeds in boosting the local productive fabric and highlighting the figure of the business owner who shares their time and experience altruistically.

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