Top 6 Institutions offering Business Mentorship in SA

Staring a business or perusing your career on your own can be hard and frustrating. Some people have even gone to the extent of changing careers or even settling for jobs. It doesn’t have to be, there is help. Her are a few institutions to look at in for mentorship:

Business Partners Mentorship Programme:

Business Partners, South Africa’s leading specialist investment company for entrepreneurs has a database of carefully selected individuals who have proved themselves successful in their businesses and careers, to provide a service of high standard and quality. All mentors subscribe to a code of ethics that will ensure that the principles of integrity, good faith, confidentiality, impartiality, incorruptibility, accountability and professional conduct are adhered to.

• Investec’s The Business Place:

This is a “one-stop shop” for emerging and existing entrepreneurs, with a cluster of relevant, affordable service providers. It’s a business advice centre that advises entrepreneurs on how to proceed or refers them to a service provider

• Mentoring for success:
Mentoring 4 Success™ (Pty) Ltd is a comprehensive service provider in Knowledge Transfer and Structured Mentoring.

The comprehensive Mentoring 4 Success™ service offering consists of:
– Structured Mentoring Programmes – a suite of 6 individual and highly specialised programmes to suit your exact Knowledge Transfer and Mentoring needs.
– Structured Mentoring Workshops – a range of 5 different workshops and durations to suit your specific Mentoring Training needs.
– Structured Mentoring Solutions – a comprehensive range of Mentoring Solutions including Consulting and Advisory Services, a range of Mentoring Surveys, Mentoring Forums and development of bespoke “In-House” client specific Mentoring Programmes.
– Structured Mentoring Products – a comprehensive range of Mentoring Support Products to ensure an optimum experience that include Tips, Tools, Techniques and downloadable Video Assets to assist with training and Mentor / Mentee capacitating.
• COMENSA – Coaches and Mentors of South Africa:

Coaching and mentoring are relatively new, still-emerging disciplines in South Africa. Launched in April 2006, Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA) is an inclusive, umbrella professional association for individual and corporate providers, buyers and trainers of coaching and mentoring services

• Bizco Consulting:

Bizco Consulting offers consulting programs that are unique allowing them to work exclusively with a limited number of start-ups on a one-on-one basis. Because of their commitment to their clients, they only work with start-ups that are unique and not in conflicting industries and are also able to make a minimum commitment of 3 months.

• COMENSA – Coaches and Mentors of South Africa:

Coaching and mentoring are relatively new, still-emerging disciplines in South Africa. Launched in April 2006, Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA) is an inclusive, umbrella professional association for individual and corporate providers, buyers and trainers of coaching and mentoring services.

• Bizco Consulting:

Bizco Consulting offers consulting programs that are unique allowing them to work exclusively with a limited number of start-ups on a one-on-one basis. Because of their commitment to their clients, they only work with start-ups that are unique and not in conflicting industries and are also able to make a minimum commitment of 3 months.

• BASA Mentorship
Business and Arts South Africa’s Mentorship programme, is designed to introduce better business skills into the arts sector. These include marketing, financial planning, audience development, cash flow management and much more.
Since the launch of the mentorship programme, business practitioners who have brought their skills and perspectives to an arts organisation have reported the impact of the relationship on their own work. While the arts organisation acquires a new perspective on its operations and context and new skills, the business professional gains a new perspective into a world characterised by hard work, lack of funds, but no lack of creativity and energy.
Many of the successful relationships in the BASA Mentorship Programme are recognised by the Mentor of the Year Award at the annual Business Day BASA Awards, supported by Hollard. The category recognises the long-term contribution of a volunteer business mentor to arts organisations through the programme.

Mbali Radebe