Calling all driven entrepreneurs. You have just one month left to enter The Sunday Times Bank of Scotland Corporate £35m Entrepreneur Challenge. In what is the most valuable prize ever awarded to British business, Bank of Scotland Corporate will be providing seven regional winners from across the country up to £5m interest-free funding for three years to enable them to grow their business and take it to the next level.

One national winner will also receive several days mentoring from one of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs. The winner of last year’s Entrepreneur Challenge, Matt Riley, who founded Daisy Communications, which provides telephony services to small firms, is currently being mentored by Sir Philip Green, owner of Topshop and BHS.

Mentoring has been proven time and again to be one of the best ways ambitious entrepreneurs can take their business to the next level. Typically someone with in-depth experience of running a business, a mentor can provide an entrepreneur with unbiased guidance and advice in a way that a board member or someone on the management team cannot.

In a survey of 250 UK entrepreneurs who entered last year’s Entrepreneur Challenge, Bank of Scotland Corporate found that 42% of them had a mentor. Respondents said the benefits of having a mentor included having someone who could act as a sounding board for new ideas, who could provide advice on business issues and someone who would be honest and could help to keep them focused.

One entrepreneur said: “I would say it is crucial to have a mentor because you cannot possibly know everything.”

Another respondent, Nic Wastell of Completely Independent Distribution, said of his mentor: “His wealth of experience is invaluable. Every question we have, he will have an answer for.”

The survey also found that of those people who do not have a mentor, almost half said they would consider getting one in the future.

To be eligible to enter the Entrepreneur Challenge your business must have a turnover of at least £2m and at least two years of continuous growth in profits and sales. The business can be in almost any industry sector, with one or two exceptions. The key to success is to inspire our panel of judges and to prove that you have the determination to succeed.

The deadline for entries is midnight, Monday, May 19, so you need to take action now.

Find out more about the Entrepreneur Challenge and download an entry form from www.theboschallenge.co.uk. You can also follow the progress of the competition at www.timesonline.co.uk/entrepreneur

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