Celebrating 10 years of the Autoocupació mentoring program
Ten years ago, Autoocupació began an exciting adventure: launching a
voluntary mentoring program for entrepreneurs.
We began by adapting the
Youth Business International methodology, tested in 50 countries, to our context, and conducting a pilot in Barcelona to help young entrepreneurs consolidate their newly created companies. We scaled the program in Catalonia, in collaboration with Provincial Councils and municipal service networks, and in Spain through the creation of
Youth Business Spain and with the support of J.P. Morgan. With the pandemic, we adapted the program to help the self-employed and micro-enterprises cope with the crisis.
During these 10 years, the mentoring program has
supported more than 3,000 companies with the help of over 900 volunteers, achieving 5-year survival rates of 87% between 2014 and 2018, according to the
PWC study, and 91% between 2019 and 2023, according to the
GEM study. The program has been
honored with the Volunteer Award from the Generalitat de Catalunya, the
Social Innovation Award from the La Caixa Foundation, and the
Barcelona Never Stops Award from the City Council.
What are the keys to the success of the voluntary mentoring program for entrepreneurs?
- Mentoring responds to an unmet need.
Most services for entrepreneurs offer support prior to the creation of the company, often to develop a business plan. However, it is once the company is created, when forecasts are not met, that the entrepreneur finds themselves more alone and in need of more support. Mentoring offers personalized guidance at this time, helping entrepreneurs start, consolidate, and grow their newly created businesses.
- Mentors have entrepreneurial experience.
Mentors are business owners or self-employed individuals who have gone through the same experience as the entrepreneurs: they have created companies, faced the same difficulties, and moved forward. It is this entrepreneurial experience that they share with the entrepreneurs, which gives them credibility.
- Mentors are volunteers.
Mentors are active professionals, with family responsibilities and active lives, who decide to share part of their time with entrepreneurs with the sole purpose of helping them, without expecting anything in return. It is this volunteering that makes the difference, facilitating the establishment of valuable relationships based on commitment, trust, and empathy.
- Mentoring is holistic and transformational.
Mentoring is an intervention that goes beyond consulting or coaching. It is non-directive guidance that addresses personal, professional, and business aspects, helping mentees develop entrepreneurial skills to make their own decisions. The goal of mentoring is the long-term personal and professional growth of the mentee. The mentor acts as a facilitator. Active listening and asking powerful questions are the key skills of a good mentor.
- The program has a well-structured methodology.
Mentoring is a volunteer program managed with professional criteria. The methodology includes in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs and mentors to understand the needs of the former and the value the latter can provide, prior training in mentoring techniques to align the expectations of both parties, well-defined matching criteria to establish meaningful mentoring relationships, and mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the quality and impact of these relationships. These functions are performed by a professional team of mentoring managers who help mentors and entrepreneurs get the most out of the experience.
It has been 10 exciting years, full of challenges, learning, hugs, and gratitude. We feel very proud and eternally grateful. On behalf of Autoocupació and all the entrepreneurs, many thanks to all those who have shared your experience and your time as volunteer mentors:
this success is yours!
