How a Mentor Can Help You Succeed
Why Every Small Business Owner Should Have a Sounding Board
Becoming the owner of a thriving business is the fantasy of many hard working employees and the ever increasing numbers of self-employed people prove that many are turning this dream into a reality.
But the dream, once achieved, does not always live up to expectations. Despite the hope that self-employment will bring money, freedom and an early retirement, many small business owners are exhausted, stressed and time poor.
SME Owners Are Stressed and Time Poor!
All too often, owner managers do little more than replicate their former job, put their heads down and work 60+ hours a week until retirement. As a result, they fail to develop a real business that can function without them, or even one they can realistically sell at retirement.
Many experienced business consultants believe that mentoring, especially for owners who have gone into business without any formal qualifications, is the answer.
John Halse, who is involved with a mentoring programme in New Zealand called Business Mentors, is one such advocate:
"Business owners often say to me that they will seek mentoring advice once they get to a certain size. I tell them that they won’t get to that size if they don’t seek advice from the beginning.
"Other business owners get into the habit of only asking for assistance when there is a problem. This should not be the case either. Mentoring should be used to support sustainability in the business and to develop growth plans rather than being used simply as a tool to get the business out of trouble."
How Can a Mentor Help You?
There are many benefits in having a mentor involved from the very start. Mentors can help a business owner take a step back from the company and take a look at the ‘bigger picture’. They can assist in identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that may have been missed. They may also help the business owner refocus on their business goals and offer advice on strategies to better achieve them.
John agrees:
"Having a mentor is like having a de facto board. You have a person to speak to who is not involved in the operation to act as a guide and a soundboard. This is a huge advantage for the novice entrepreneur."
Don't Neglect Your Mentor
It is recommended that once a business owner takes the plunge and seeks advice that they then make sure that they catch up with their mentor on a regular basis. Organisations such as Business Mentors have no restriction on the amount of mentoring in one session and there is no limitation on booking again at another time in the future. This means that there is no reason to avoid seeking advice and taking that crucial step back from your enterprise to ascertain where you want to go and how you are going to get there.
The DIY approach to running a business has become something of a habit for numerous small business owners across the world. Fortunately, it is a habit that can be broken. Speaking to an experienced mentor can give business owners a vital boost of knowledge, enabling them to take their business forward and ensure that it runs more efficiently and productively. It can give them a chance to take a step back and pinpoint what is working and what is not. Finally, a mentor can help a small business owner figure out how to achieve the prosperity, freedom and even the early retirement that they were dreaming about when they opened their business in the first place.
Let a mentor put you on the road to prosperity
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