"With a Little Help from my Friends! Networking and Mentoring Among Entrepreneuses for Personal, Business and Professional Development"

The empirical data for this paper emerged from a one year ERDF funded study, "Welsh Entrepreneuses on the Web". The project was set up to identify the needs of entrepreneuses in Industrial South Wales and the extent to which they are being met by the current business support sector. One of the key themes which emerged from the study centres on the significance of networking and mentoring activities among entrepreneuses as means of achieving personal, professional and business development. In many cases, rather than seeking advice from business support sector agencies, the preferred choice wa sto learn from peers within the business community. The paper contributes to the literature on networking and mentoring in the context of entrepreneurial learning.