For Malla Haridat of Kingsbridge/Riverdale, establishing a business was a daunting experience the first time out. Luckily, there was a mentor, which she credits to have worked out some rookie mistakes.

“You really need people that have been there, done that, and could kind of show you where are your blind spots, where are your gaffes to figure you what do you need to do differently,” said Haridat, owner of Moms and Daughters, a business management consulting firm.

Finding the right support can make or break a business, and for female business owners, that support has never been critical. It’s one reason why a group of seventeen women business owners from all backgrounds were chosen for Women Entrepreneurs Connect, or WE Connect, an initiative that allows them to impart their business acumen directly to beginner women business owners.

Part female empowerment, part business management, the program was born from a need to close the gender gap in a male-dominated business world. The program is backed by City Hall and the New York City Small Business Services, which facilitates the free program.

“It’s this interesting mix where all the women are from different industries, they’re from different stages of their businesses,” said Haridat. “[W]e share a common understanding of really what to do to make your business successful.”

Strides have been made to close the gap, particularly in the Bronx, according to a recent report by the Center for an Urban Future. The Manhattan-based nonprofit think tank found women-owned businesses increased seven percent from 2007 to 2012 citywide. In the Bronx, that gain is 53 percent in the last five years.

Haridat is one of two business mavens who lives in the Bronx, the second being Wonder Lee of Pelham Bay, the business owner behind 123 Designs Inc., makers of unique bow ties.

“I started the new year getting paid to be me,” said Lee. Mentors are paid what they call an honorarium of a thousand dollars for the year.

At a WE Connect Center in Fordham, female merchants are encouraged to explore several aspects to better business management that include marketing, public relations, and spiritual guidance. Mentors are also available via weekly teleconference chats touching on subjects tailored to the business world. Haridat’s specialty focuses on putting one’s best self forward at networking events “in a way that’s meaningful, that people will remember your story after the event.”

But face time with a mentor goes beyond the centers and at special networking events that include a roundtable discussion touching on business-centered topics. The next WE Connect event takes place March 24 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts at 1040 Grand Concourse.

Haridat hopes one takeaway lesson women learn is to take risk, a gamble she said can be challenging for women, but worthwhile.

“You have to kind of get outside your comfort zone a little bit to really, really expand and do things in a way that it’s not just this really wonderful small entity that you manage,” said Haridat.

 Editor’s Note: To learn more about the program, go to the group’s Facebook page, WE NYC. Additional reporting by Daniela Beasley.