| dc.description.abstract | Approximately 77% of new business ventures are prematurely abandoned
due to entrepreneurial mistakes. The new entrepreneur’s decision to create
a new business venture on his or her own without first seeking guidance
from an experienced mentor may negatively impact his or her start-up
venture’s performance. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological
study was to gain an understanding of the aspects of entrepreneurial
mentoring that were perceived to improve new entrepreneurs’ selfefficacy
in venture creation from the mentors’ perspective. Respondents included
10 experienced male and female, entrepreneurs within the energy sector
in Kenya. As new entrepreneurs respondents managed their own startup
ventures without a mentor, which resulted in failure, and sought the
assistance of an experienced mentor. Currently, respondents serve as mentors
to other new entrepreneurs. This phenomenological approach included indepth,
open-ended interviews containing 23 previously published questions
to ascertain the mentors’ perspectives of their mentoring relationships on
venture creation retrospectively, as new entrepreneurs, and currently, as
mentors. The phenomenological method was used to collect, examine,
analyze, and interpret the data. Findings revealed that new entrepreneurs’
optimism and self-confidence were perceived to be negatively influenced by
their inadequate business and knowledge structure, allowing them to ignore
valuable information necessary to grow new start-up ventures. Through
mentorship, new entrepreneurs were taught strategies to craft solutions to
potential and existing start-up venture pitfalls. New entrepreneurs reported
improved knowledge and self-efficacy were perceived to be consistent with
their venture success, as indicated by increased strategic alliances, partnership
agreements with other experienced business owners, increased ability to
identify customers’ needs, increased optimism and commitment to learning
from other experienced entrepreneurs, and increased willingness to help others
learn the needed competencies to grow their own ventures. It is recommended
that mentors provide reassurance to mentees and that new entrepreneurs
discuss a mentor’s experiences prior to seeking mentorship as this may
determine the level of motivation, insights, knowledge, and experience the
mentors may bring to the relationship. Future research is recommended to
explore mentorship in a sample comprised of new entrepreneurs, as opposed
to a retrospective account by experienced entrepreneurs, to determine whether
the respondents’ improved self-efficacy in venture creation has influenced their
perceptions of mentorship. | en_US |
