A night of inspiration, seminars and awards
I’ve written about the Beautiful Business Awards before and I’m certain this won’t be the last time. This year an impressive 1766 women have been nominated for the awards and planning for the Regional Finals is underway. Ten finalists from three different regions will compete for the titles of Business Woman of the Year, Service Developer of the Year and Newcomer of the Year.

Last week's Eget Företag Mässa (Own Business Fair) is an annual event to encourage and support self-employment, organised and hosted by the Foundation Jobs & Society. Apart from a range of seminars there were also over 100 booths where companies, organisations and government bodies provided information to those interested in or already running their own business.

One of the Fair's activities included the promotion and celebration of their Mentoring Program with Mentor of the Year awards being given to Barbro Edberg of Hooks Herrgård and Fredrik Spendrup of Spendrups Bryggeri. The winners were announced during Eget Företag 2009 by publicist Amelia Adamo.

Photo: Ingela Bjurenborg

A good mentor sets a good example as well as shares their knowledge and contacts to give a newcomer a greater chance of success. According to the organisation responsible for the program (Mentor Eget Företag), mentorship can lead to faster development, greater income, higher profit margins and more employees. Research has shown that the support of a mentor clearly increases the likeliness of success.

Barbro Edberg, her husband and their sons run Hooks Herrgård in Småland, one of the country's most well known golf and conference centers. She has been in the industry for more than 40 years and her mentee Anne Robertsson has been running Huskvarna Stadshotell for the last two years.

– As a mentor you have to feel the enthusiasm, listen to your mentee and give them homework. It is also important to see the mentee in their entirety, both as a private individual and a professional.

Fredrik Spendrup comes from one of Sweden's most well known business families and is the IT Manager at Spendrups Bryggeri. His mentees Mounir Hamdi and Labinot Gervalla are from Skärholmen and they have started the recruitment company Lets Work, primarily aimed at the beverage industry.

– These are two ambitious and energetic guys who have not been served life on a silver platter, says Fredrik Spendrup. It is important that the mentor is able to put him or herself in the mentee's situation, is able to help them set realistic goals, prioritize and set smaller goals. I see it as my duty to help other business people succeed.

2009's winners have faced tough competition amongst the 1800 mentors who participated in the national mentor program during 2007-2008. The winners received a diploma signed by the Minister for Enterprise and Energy, Maud Olofsson and a hand blown glass bowl specially designed and made by one of the business people in the program. This year's winners are role models for those participating in the mentor program that goes until next autumn.

A thank you letter from Maud Olofsson was also sent out last week to all mentors participating in the program.

More about the Mentor/Mentee Program
I too have had been a part of the program although I joined late so regrattebly didn't get the full benefit of the program. It is however well worth the opportunity, it is fantastic to have someone to meet regularly and discuss things with.

The Mentee and mentor meet over a period of one year, at least once a month for about two hours at a time. It is important that the mentee is given “homework” between the sessions, so that the mentee can work on whatever has been covered. This also leads to constructive dialogue in which the mentor contributes his/her experience and network of contacts, although not finished solutions. Also remember that it is the mentee who must be the driving force in the relationship.

Regular networking meetings are arranged in parallel all over the country for all of the mentees and mentors in a region, and these represent another opportunity to be inspired and to develop.

Who can become a mentee?
Do you want to further develop yourself, your business concept and your company? Are you prepared to set aside time and commitment for a one-year period? YOU are the one who must be the driving force in your relationship with your mentor.

Who can become a mentor?
Are you a woman or a man with experience from the world of business and a genuine interest in people? Can you set aside some time? Do you feel that you, on a voluntary basis, wish to contribute and pass on your knowledge? If your answers are YES, then Mentor Eget Företag would like to hear from you!

More information and online applications are available here:

It is a fantastic chance for anyone starting out and I encourage you to take opportunity!

I was at a seminar recently where the topic in discussion was the challenges faced by non-Swedes who chose to be self-employed. A man stood up and said "Everyone talks about how difficult it is to start-up a business in this country when in actual fact it is very easy - you register with a couple of authorities and that's it, it's done. The real difficulty comes in running a business on a daily basis, from year to year. The start up is easy!"

And he is right. Despite popular opinion, it is easy to start a business here. He is also right when it comes to running a business, that part is much more challenging.

Monday night was the Final Gala held by Nyföretagarcentrum in Gamla Stan here in Stockholm. Nyföretagarcentrum is a non-profit organisation with offices around the country, sponsored by government and businesses. Their goal is to promote start-ups and support small businesses in general - which it does with huge success. Of those who start a business with their support less than one percent have gone bankrupt after three years and 80% are still active and on average have 2 employees. That is pretty impressive results!

During 2008-2009 SNC has made a particular effort to encourage women not only to start businesses but to make use of the resources that are available - largely thanks to the money that has been eartagged by Maud Oloffsson. Våga Språnget, Starter Programmes, networking groups and inspiration evenings have been the focus of their Investment In Women campaign.

Monday night we were invited to attend a celebration of what SNC have achieved so far. We were treated to red carpet attention, champagne, dinner and a night of celebrating successful women.

The red carpet into Nalen.

Karin, Anne, Monica and Theresa

After the initial introductions from the evening's mediator Lydia Capolicchio, and Anna Nedeby Bar-Am, CEO for Stockholms NyföretagarCentrum we listened to a discussion on women in business held by a panel.

Carin Holmquist Professor Handelshögskolan in Stockholm
Mikael Wolf CEO Swedbank
Kicki Theander Founder Middagsfrid
Sten Nordin kuhiphr Stockholm Municipality
 

Some 350 men and (mostly) women listened and contributed with their own reflections - inlcluding the myth that it is difficult to start a business in Sweden.

While I was listening a security man walked up past me to the front of the audience - odd I thought. A few minutes later Maud Olofson Minister for Enterprise and Energy, Deputy Prime Minister, Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications stepped up onto the stage and I realised - ok, yes, I am in the presence of a national politician and I guess they do need their security force.

Maud was presented with a Thank You card by CEO for SNC Anna Nedeby Bar-Am on behalf of SNC as a thanks for ear-marking 1 million crowns to promote women in business. Maud went on to read some of the comments on the card written by the women (me included) who have benefited from this 1 million crowns.

As I listened to her speech about women, entreprenurialism, business, the recession and Sweden I couldn't help but be reminded of Pippi - seeing her standing there in her red shoes.

And I didn't come away empty handed either - I got a nice diploma for participating in Våga Språnget.

Monday's event was to celebrate the results:

• 1 666 women have started a over 1000 companies
• SNC have conducted 4 925 advisory sessions
• 388 women have participated in the Starter programme
• 60 women have participated in Våga Språnget
• Almost 300 women have participated in networking events.

Do you have an idea brewing away in your mind? Are you a small business in a period of change or in need of support, advice, expertise? I can't recommend SNC enough - they are a fantastic resource! Not only are their staff skilled and knowledgeable but they have endless contacts and have a huge range of experts available to assist those in need - all that and it is free too!