Business mentors from EntreDot™ establish long term relationships with entrepreneurs to help them develop their business ideas, find the resources they need and advise them on how to successfully manage their businesses.

The mentoring services include:

• Advising entrepreneurs on their ideas and concepts in their formative phase
• Determining the research needed to understand their markets.
• Nurturing and refining ideas and concepts as potential growth businesses
• Developing an effective business model and business strategy
• Helping put structure around business ideas, strategies, and business plans
• Indentifying all internal and external stakeholders and their needs
• Identifying marketing, sales, prototyping and financing opportunities
• Providing guidance on governance and protecting intellectual property
• Providing management guidance on business decision making
• Referring entrepreneurs to business resources throughout North Carolina

In addition to providing business advice, EntreDot™ mentors use their business contacts to steer entrepreneurs to the people they will need to be working with in their business. This includes relationships such as:

• Market research resources
• Marketing and sales consultants
• Attorneys (corporate and IP)
• Accountants
• HR and recruiting firms
• Financing sources (grant organizations, bankers, angels, institutional investors)

Online mentoring tools are provided so that entrepreneurs and mentors can collaborate without having to drive to meet each other. The online mentoring capabilities give you a way to:

• Work with a mentor
• Find business experts
• Communicate and collaborate with other community members
• Receive the latest business news
• Comment on relevant business blogs
• Read business articles
• Find business tools and templates
• Learn about upcoming events
• Get announcements about opportunities