It doesn’t have to be lonely at the top.  The Venture Forum of Richmond hopes to roll out a mentoring network next month that would link entrepreneurial CEOs with seasoned executives who have already taken a business from startup to financial success.

The concept of the proposed program is simple, says Chuck McCabe, president and CEO of Peoples Income Tax, Inc. and a member of the forum’s Entrepreneur Advisory Committee. “If you need advice on how to get to the next level, the best person to give that advice is another CEO.”

The forum wants to make it easy for members to find a match. So far, the network is being designed with mid-level CEOs in mind.  For instance, they would need to meet several requirements: be in business for at least a year (and the business couldn’t strictly be a sole proprietor “lifestyle” business), have minimum annual revenue of $100,000, employ at least one other person and be committed to growth by hiring other employees. 

Mentors would be drawn from Central Virginia and would not have to be forum members. They would be asked to provide up to two hours a month of free consultation to a member CEO at no charge. In return, the mentoring CEO could receive up to 2 hours of free counseling from a CEO whose business has already achieved the next highest level in terms of revenues and employees.

Just goes to show that talk can be cheap and valuable.