Mentoring Strengthens Small Businesses MicroMentor 2022 Impact Report

Letter from our Executive Director

For the past three years, entrepreneurs around the world have endured extraordinary challenges for their businesses. Between a global pandemic, inflation, regional human rights crises, and climate change-induced natural disasters, this generation of entrepreneurs has been tested like never before. They also adapted, demonstrated resilience, and shared with vulnerability as they faced these challenges.

Simultaneously, we have seen professionals, business owners, entrepreneurs, and people from all walks of our community rise up to the moment as volunteer mentors. These mentors listened deeply, shared their wisdom, expertise, and technical advice, and helped entrepreneurs navigate their businesses through these trying times.

As you will read, when mentors like Jerrika invested their time, entrepreneurs were 12% more likely to access financial capital. And women entrepreneurs like Mariela learned tangible skills to succeed in today’s digital world. In fact, 51% of women-owned small businesses increased their revenue when they worked with a mentor.

Mentors make MicroMentor’s mission possible. We are so grateful for their generosity and commitment! Their contributions allowed us to reach 28,619 entrepreneurs that helped create and retain 43,909 jobs.

Despite, and perhaps even because of, what we all endured as a global community, I look at the future with hope and determination when I reflect on the powerful connections made on our platform. I am filled with excitement witnessing our partners, colleagues, and friends working ceaselessly for an inclusive and thriving economic future for those who need it most.

The MicroMentor team walks alongside our brave, hardworking, and resilient global community of entrepreneurs and mentors to share their stories and our collective impact. With immense pride for the hardworking people behind all of this and with humility in the face of the challenges the global economy is faced with, I invite you to take a moment to read and discover how MicroMentor and the power of mentoring are driving out-of-the-ordinary change for individuals, families, and communities around the world.

—Anita Ramachandran, Executive Director

Razaq and Carlos: Unexpected and Impactful Connections

Continents away from each other, Razaq Ogunbanwo and Carlos Villatoro, two small business owners who had never met, made an impactful connection in ways that surprised both of them.

Razaq Ogunbanwo grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. He founded his company, Hadij Resources Limited, after identifying a need in the food sector to connect small scale farmers and food processors.

Razaq knew he had a great idea but also recognized how additional guidance could help grow his business.

Carlos Villatoro is an economist from La Union, El Salvador with a background in business consulting. Looking for a way to give back, Carlos signed up to mentor while locked down during the pandemic.

Despite their geographic, cultural, and language differences, the pair formed a very productive mentoring relationship. Their conversations turned into a roadmap, which included a marketing plan and an outline for Hadij Resources’s entry into the international market.

Entrepreneurs who connect through mentoring are 17% more likely to experience improved access to customers.

“It’s invaluable,” Razaq said about the mentorship. “Mr Villatoro's contributions cannot be quantified, and yet it is free.”

He is not alone. Last year, entrepreneurs on MicroMentor received an estimated $84 million USD in pro bono hours donated to mentoring.

Creating a System of Support in the USA

In 2022, MicroMentor and Verizon partnered to make Personalized Mentoring available to over 140,000 entrepreneurs across the United States through the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready program. This program is designed to offer crucial resources small businesses need to succeed in today’s digital world.

Through the Digital Ready program, entrepreneurs access an online curriculum with recommended courses, coaching events, peer networking, and incentives such as grant opportunities. They can also connect with mentors who are ready to share what they’ve learned from years of professional business and marketing experience.

“Through coaching, consulting eventually, I realized that our processes are our everything.”

One mentor who does just this is Jerrika Brown, CEO, and founder of the Browns Agency. Her business consulting agency was born out of a passion to see business owners reach their full potential. What she's learned is this: “Through coaching, consulting eventually, I realized that our processes are our everything.”

Entrepreneurs who connect with Jerrika on the platform can get business guidance from a customized plan she has developed as part of her professional coaching business. She will meet with an entrepreneur, and together they’ll diagnose challenges, and then Jerrika will determine their business stage. Once she thoroughly assesses the business, she adapts her multi-step business coaching approach to help meet the entrepreneur’s needs. Topics covered may range from policies and procedures, proposal writing and social media expansion. She said, “No one’s process is ever the same.”

The growing community of small business owners on the Verizon Digital Ready platform are 20% more likely to report improved access to resources when they work with mentors like Jerrika, who support their growth.

In November, Verizon Small Business Digital Ready released Spanish-language resources, courses, and events on the portal, including the opportunity to connect with Spanish-speaking mentors through MicroMentor. The Small Business Digital Ready partnership is an initiative to drive forward Verizon and MicroMentor’s shared commitment to bridging the digital divide for under-resourced entrepreneurs.