Pictured is the proposed "Moostache" light by Leith-based product design company Blue Marmalade, one of the creative micro-businesses to benefit from the Flourish programme, which is shortly to announce the successful applicants for its second year of operation.

The scheme, which is supported by the Creative Scotland-backed Cultural Enterprise Office, gives the heads of Scottish businesses with fewer than 10 employers the opportunity to be mentored by leading creative entrepreneurs.

Trent Jennings, the Edinburgh-trained cabinet maker, ceramicist and glass-blower who co-founded Blue Marmalade in 2002, said that the scheme has been "a great support" and had helped transform his business plan.

He said: "My mentor was Lewis Heath from the designer British headphone company RHA Sound Engineering. Just giving you the chance to talk about your experiences is beneficial, as you can get stuck in your own thoughts.

"They also put together a good programme of workshops and talks and tours of other places, forcing you to challenge your perceptions of what you do.

"As you have to have been trading for two years before you can get on the scheme, they assume you know the basics about getting product out there, but there is a lot of useful businessy stuff, and the seminars on legal structure of the company, and how do you tailor your growth going forward."

The Scotland-only scheme, which caters for a neglected post-start-up niche, has been inundated with applications.

Successful applicants for this year's scheme will be matched with an established creative mentor in October, and over the course of the month-long programme will attend four co-ordinated meetings and three training sessions delivered by Ewan McIntosh, founder and chief executive of educational design company, NoTosh.