When we start to work on F2F-Trust idea we knew it is meant to prepare you for better meet the future needs based on the data provided by Eurostat or national researches from partners’ countries. The reality of the last months showed us that the future becomes present time earlier than we expected, not only for the craft sector – that represents F2F-Trust core domain – but for many other sectors where the products used to be sell mainly directly, within public events such as markets or fairs that were deeply affected by COVID-19 crisis.
In this context, F2F-Trust represents a solution at the right time especially for the women who activate or want to activate in these domains.
Our project aims to develop the digital marketing and e-commerce skills of the above mentioned persons and also the mentoring competencies of the „work & life experienced” women who have the willingness to transfer this experience to those who need the personal and professional growth.
Therefore F2F-Trust addresses, on the one hand, especially to the craft persons, particularly young craft women or would be craft women who have talents for handcrafting, both categories not being very efficient in marketing their handicrafts due to lack of knowledge or experience and, on the other hand, to experienced persons, with a major emphasis on inactive women who cannot work due to several personal life limits, although they want to work.
One of the best possible solutions for these groups is mentoring – a process that combines, in the best way, work and private life in order to transfer accumulated knowledge and experience to the individuals who need to improve their productivity.
Taking into account all above, a comprehensive mentor/mentee, free on-line training program will be developed. The e-training program addresses, in parallel, to:
- Women, especially young women in rural areas, who already activate in the field of crafts or those who are not activated yet but still have talent/skills for handcrafting – potential mentees; these persons need support for understanding the real value of their work and for developing the skills for appropriate selling of their artwork. Therefore, the e-training for this target group will be focused on the development of entrepreneurial competencies, digital marketing and e-commerce skills, on the mentoring concept and how can they benefit from the mentoring process in order to transform their handicraft products into revenue and to growth their small businesses;
- Women with a high level of work experience & knowledge, especially inactive or unemployed – potential mentors; F2F-Trust will provide to this second target group the chance to develop the mentoring competencies in order to complete their background knowledge and experience such as marketing, management, finances, training or others and, therefore, the chance to re-activate themselves and not waste their experience/ knowledge. Potential mentors will be trained step-by-step regarding how to conduct the mentoring process, to provide a systematical guidance to the persons belonging to the first target group, to offer them a perspective on the entrepreneurship fundaments and to support them to gain the knowledge, skills, the way of thinking and self-confidence to overcome possible gaps in their lives. A mentor who knows the local market conditions, providing also insights about local practices and opportunities is an invaluable resource.
To sum up, F2F-Trust e-learning program will highlight the concept and process of mentoring and also the efficient usage of e-commerce technics and tools providing a win-win model for both participating target groups, who are actually final beneficiaries of the action.. The mentors and the mentees will share the same objectives and the take same business risk – destiny – or achieve to similar commercial success. Mentors will take part in the business in return for providing of their exertions and guidance. They will have the chance of financial and personal satisfaction of seeing enterprise succeed through this kind of mentoring. Moreover, it is possible that the mentor and mentee to maintain this partnership in future periods.
In final and global sense, the mentorship will conduct to the enhancement of productivity and socioeconomic conditions of both target groups.
On long term, the project will contribute to economic growth by providing alternative job creation approaches and the development of the independent economic activities.
The project is implemented during 24 months starting with 01.12.2019, by a consortium consisted by: MEU, Turkey – coordinator; AHBV University, Turkey; INCSMPS, Romania; ZARIF, Slovakia; ”Produs in Bistrita-Nasaud” Association, Romania; POINT LLC, Turkey; TAKIDD, Turkey; VsI, Lithuania; Lukasiewicz-ITeE, Poland; Association DiR, Poland.
