Most people who build something can name a person who helped them early. A teacher, a coach, a neighbor or a boss who took the time to answer questions and open a door. Research suggests that kind of help is more than a nice story. It changes outcomes.
Mentoring young entrepreneurs and supporting youth development are causes Martin Sumichrast cares about deeply. This post looks at what the research says about mentoring, and what separates good mentoring from a handshake and a business card.
Why Mentoring Young Entrepreneurs Matters
Starting a business is hard at any age. For a young founder, the gaps are often less about effort and more about knowledge and access. They may not know how to price a product, hire a first employee or read a contract. They may not know anyone who has done it before.
A mentor fills some of those gaps. Small-business advice is the obvious part, but mentors also offer something harder to measure: proof that the path is possible, and a person to call when it gets rough.
The evidence points in the same direction. Research cited in coverage of a 2018 SCORE survey found that entrepreneurs with access to a mentor are five times more likely to start a business than those without one.
Mentoring Young Entrepreneurs: What the Business Data Shows
SCORE, the nonprofit network of volunteer business mentors, surveyed its clients in 2018. The findings, reported by CPA Practice Advisor, include:
- Mentored businesses were 12 percent more likely to remain in business after one year than the national average.
- 30 percent of business owners who had a single interaction with a mentor reported business growth.
- That share rose to 43 percent among owners who had five or more mentoring interactions.
- The most common topics owners brought to mentors were human resources, growth and expansion, and start-up help.
These are survey results, so they show association rather than proof of cause. Owners who seek out mentors may also be more motivated. Still, the pattern of more contact going with more growth is consistent.
The Kauffman Foundation has also funded research on how entrepreneurial mentoring works. Its Entrepreneurial Mentoring Research Project surveyed university programs, including I-Corps programs, along with private accelerators such as Techstars. Researchers reported that programs with the most effective mentors shared two traits: a strong culture of learning created by program leaders and mentors, and a sense of community built on shared values. Participants with a learning mindset were also more satisfied with mentoring and more likely to stay engaged.
What the Research Says About Youth Mentoring
The case for mentoring young people goes beyond business. In 2014, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership released The Mentoring Effect, based on a national survey of 1,100 young adults ages 18 to 21. Among young adults facing risk factors, those who had a mentor were more likely than those who did not to:
- Enroll in college (45 percent versus 29 percent)
- Aspire to enroll in and graduate from college (76 percent versus 56 percent)
- Volunteer regularly in their communities (48 percent versus 27 percent)
- Hold a leadership position in a club, sports team or school group (51 percent versus 22 percent)
The same report found a gap in access. One in three young people grows up without a mentor outside their family, and each additional risk factor a young person faces makes an informal mentor less likely.
Stronger evidence comes from a randomized study. Public/Private Ventures evaluated Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in a study first released in 1995. Compared with a control group, mentored youth were 46 percent less likely to start using drugs, 27 percent less likely to start drinking, almost one-third less likely to hit someone, and missed about half as many school days.
What Good Mentoring Looks Like
Not all mentoring helps. Research highlights a few traits that matter most.
It lasts
A study by Jean Grossman and Jean Rhodes, published in 2002 in the American Journal of Community Psychology, followed youth in Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. Young people in relationships that lasted a year or longer showed the most improvement. Effects shrank for relationships that ended sooner, and youth whose matches ended within three months were, on some measures, worse off than youth who were never mentored. A mentor who disappears can do harm.
It is structured
MENTOR's Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring sets standards for programs. Earlier editions organized them around six areas: recruitment, screening, training, matching, monitoring and support, and closure. The fifth edition, released in January 2025, expands that guidance to include youth and community voice and safe, inclusive program spaces. Careful screening, real training and a planned ending are what turn good intentions into a good match.
It builds a learning culture
The Kauffman-funded research points to the same idea for entrepreneurs. Mentoring works better inside a community that values learning, where mentees feel safe asking basic questions and mentors see their role as teaching rather than telling.
It is regular
The SCORE data suggests that repeated contact matters. One conversation helps some founders. Five or more conversations helped more of them.
Mentoring and Youth Development as a Cause
Martin Sumichrast is passionate about mentoring young entrepreneurs and supporting youth development causes. It is a natural fit for someone whose own story starts with immigrant parents who built a new life through hard work. His father, the economist Michael Sumichrast, arrived in New York in 1955 with little and went on to become chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.
For anyone thinking about mentoring, the research offers a simple guide. Commit for at least a year. Work through an established program when possible, so screening, training and support are in place. Show up regularly. And remember that for many young people, the most valuable thing a mentor offers is the belief that their goals are reachable.
Organizations such as MENTOR, Big Brothers Big Sisters and SCORE all list ways to get involved, from one-to-one youth mentoring to advising new business owners.
Learn More About Martin's Causes
See more of the organizations and causes Martin supports on the Giving Back page, and read his story on the About page. His books, including the forthcoming Getting Sheared, are on the Books page, and his trips and travel writing are in Travel.