Lan’s story
Lan was a mentee on the Mentoring Women in Business programme between 2018-2019.


Vineet would always say: ‘Focus, focus, focus!’ and ‘Be strong and confident.’ Things I really needed to hear. I’ve written them down as daily reminders.
Lan’s reflections

Working with her mentor has built Lan’s confidence and made her more focused: “Vineet would always say: ‘Focus, focus, focus!’ and ‘Be strong and confident.’ Things I really needed to hear. I’ve written them down as daily reminders.” Now Lan knows that for a small company, diversifying isn’t always the best and most efficient thing to do. When she was feeling alone running her business and wanted to give up, talking to her mentor encouraged her to keep going and improve. Vineet also helped her to make better and quicker decisions, showing her how she can assess risks and returns. Even if something goes wrong, Lan now knows how to learn from it.
As a result of being on the Mentoring Women in Business Programme and working with her mentor, Lan has seen her revenue increase significantly. She has signed on four new customers, and has expanded contracts with pre-existing clients. Instead of meeting with just any potential client, as she used to do before, she now focuses on the ones that seem most likely, helping to ensure that she uses her limited resources effectively. Her rate of converting prospects to clients is much higher now.
Vineet and Lan completed their mentoring year in November 2019. When she sent him a thank you email, Vineet told her that she can always reach out to him if she has any problems in the future. Lan said: “I know he’s very busy, so I’m really happy about this. I hope one day I can meet him and thank him in person.”
Find out more about our Mentoring Women in Business programme
Mentoring Women in Business is one of the Foundation's three flagship programmes, which also include HerVenture and the Road to Growth. The programme matches women entrepreneurs from low and middle income countries with professionals of any gender anywhere in the world.

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