PR2 is composed of
Ment-Net will be established so that female entrepreneurs can get access to a strong network of potential contacts and quality mentors. The platform fosters interaction and networking between second-chance female entrepreneurs and mentors. It also represents an incentive for mentors to interact with fellow mentors who have their strengths in other areas, thus providing an opportunity to complement expertise when supporting mentees and the satisfaction of helping female entrepreneurs. This increases engagement and usability.
The need for the online and interactive platform is justified by the lack of exchange between mentors and second-time female entrepreneurs (mentees). Female entrepreneurship networks appear to have a different composition than men entrepreneurs’ networks, and often include family, friends, and educators rather than business services providers or other entrepreneurs (OECD/EU, 2015), highlighting the need to provide better business networking opportunities for female entrepreneurs, especially when they start over after failure.
Two target groups will mainly benefit: the first one being potential mentors including entrepreneurs, business owners, managers, professionals, entrepreneurial graduate students from HEIs project partenrs and others, and the second one being second-chance female entrepreneurs in the art and creative sector or those who want to re-start their business in this sector. We intend to provide a platform where mentors can interact with another mentor’s while being trained and strengthen their network. Simultaneously, second-chance female entrepreneurs access the same platform when seeking support, so that the network becomes the project’s central point for target group interaction.
The platform’s members will be able to share material, articles, and advice. The mentees will also be able to publish their doubts, questions, opinions. We will also make visible in the mentors’ profiles the certificates they have obtained through the training courses taken (PR4) so that it is visible to the community in which areas the mentors are specifically trained. This type of certification will contribute to monitoring the viability and continuation of the project over time.
Ment-Net provides a solution to the lack of confidence and skills that female entrepreneurs in the arts and creative industry have. The platform simplifies the user’s interaction and enables women to build a larger network. The network will be a hub for restarting female entrepreneurs while also providing opportunities for exchange (mentor- mentee, mentee-mentee, mentor-mentor) and training opportunities and tools for mentors that help enhance their mentoring ability to address the unique needs of second-chance female entrepreneurs.