Building a relationship with a mentor can have a positive effect on your business, whether you are just starting up or are already established. A mentor can help you develop important business skills, support you in making important decisions and put you in touch with useful business contacts.
If you already have plenty of experience in running a business you could think about becoming a mentor. This can be a rewarding way of sharing your knowledge and experience with others.
You can use the national mentoring network – Mentorsme.co.uk – to find business mentors or offer your services to other businesses. Many of the leading mentoring organisations are making their mentors available through this government-backed service.
This guide outlines the different types of business mentoring services and how you can find a suitable mentor. It also describes the benefits of becoming a mentor and how to get involved.
Table of Contents
What is business mentoring?
Business mentoring is a relationship between you – as an entrepreneur and someone with business experience who is willing to act as a guide. The business mentor offers advice, guidance and support to help you run and improve your business.
It can involve face-to-face meetings or online discussions – or a combination of both – depending on which arrangement is best for both parties.
Formal and informal mentoring
It’s likely that your mentor will stay in regular contact with you through meetings, telephone calls and emails. The nature of the relationship may vary from being fairly casual – eg a monthly telephone call or informal visit – to being more formal and structured – eg setting meeting agendas and business objectives. Some mentoring services are free and others are paid for or available by subscription to an organisation.
Not all mentors have to be formally established as such. Friends, family and business contacts can all become involved in unofficial mentoring.
How to find a mentor
There are several organisations that make mentors available to businesses. Many of these are represented on the national business mentoring network, Mentorsme.co.uk, which provides access to around 10,000 mentors – offering both free and paid for mentoring. This government-backed service is funded by the British Bankers’ Association and supported by the Better Business Finance Roundtable, which includes the key business groups in the UK.
Find business mentors on the Mentorsme.co.uk website- Opens in a new window.
There are many other sources of business mentors, including some geared specifically towards supporting local businesses, young entrepreneurs or specific business sectors. See the page in this guide on further information for finding or becoming a business mentor.
Why business mentoring is important
If you have a gap in your knowledge or experience, then mentoring could work very well for you. For example, you may have a great idea for a business but need a bit of guidance to turn it into a successful venture.
A mentor can provide you with a number of benefits, such as:
- guidance on developing and improving your business
- help with difficult decisions
- ideas for new products or services, or ways of working
- tips for your business that are gained from practical experience
- access to a network of contacts with other people
A business mentor can also help you to:
- develop key business skills
- improve your problem solving abilities
- build confidence
- work on your personal development
However, a business mentor won’t sort out all your problems for you, tell you what to do or offer business advice. They don’t act as consultants or take the place of any existing professional advisers.
Face-to-face business mentoring
If you choose to get involved in face-to-face business mentoring, mentor and mentee need to agree on:
- the degree of involvement you want
- the level of structure you want
Degrees of involvement
You will need to agree on the degree of involvement that suits you both. Some mentors and mentees work extremely closely with each other, speaking or meeting most weeks or even most days. In most cases, however, a mentor will not have day-to-day involvement with the business. Instead, they’ll provide help every few weeks or months which could take the form of phone calls, emails, meetings, etc.
Level of structure
You should also agree on a level of structure to suit you both. Mentoring can be a very formal and structured process with regular meetings which follow a specific agenda and set of goals. It can also be quite a casual arrangement, where the mentee calls on the mentor as and when problems or questions arise.
Finding a face-to-face business mentor
Mentorsme.co.uk – the national mentoring network – can help you find mentors offering face-to-face support. This new government-backed service is funded by the British Bankers’ Association and supported by the Better Business Finance Roundtable, which includes the key business groups in the UK.
Find business mentors on the Mentorsme.co.uk website- Opens in a new window.
For more about these and other mentoring services, see the page in this guide on further information for finding or becoming a business mentor.
Online business mentoring
Online business mentoring or ‘e-mentoring’ is an interactive, remote relationship between a mentor and mentee. Some mentoring relationships are exclusively online, while others can involve a mixture of face-to-face and online contact.
This type of mentoring is popular with people who prefer a more informal mentoring relationship. It also works well when it’s difficult for mentors and mentees to meet face to face, eg for geographical reasons. Websites that provide this sort of mentoring often call it networking and forum advice.
How online business mentoring works
Business mentors use online forums and websites – similar to social networking sites – where they share their knowledge and experience. The mentor applies to register as a mentor, is vetted by the website and then has their profile viewed by potential mentees. The mentee is then free to contact the mentor. There is no reason why once this relationship is established it can’t turn into a more formal mentoring relationship.
Many websites will let you search by topic or industry sector to find a mentor. You can also post a request and invite mentors to respond, so that you can identify those who are best placed to help you.
Sources of online business mentoring
The new national business mentoring network – Mentorsme.co.uk – is a good source of experienced mentors who can offer online or face-to-face support. It includes many mentors with a financial background. This new service is backed by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Find business mentors on the Mentorsme.co.uk website- Opens in a new window.
There are many websites offering business mentoring or networking services targeted at a specific sector, such as Freelance Advisor and Enterprise Nation. Young entrepreneurs can use the Shell LiveWIRE service, which is aimed at people aged between 16 and 30 who are starting their own business.
Read the page in this guide on further information for finding or becoming a business mentor.
Business mentoring and other types of advice
Using a business mentor is one way of helping you make the right decisions for your business, but there are other forms of support you could consider. These include:
- coaching
- peer mentoring and peer learning alliances
- networking
- professional advice
Coaching
Specific short-term business issues can be addressed through coaching which has similar elements as mentoring. There are many organisations that offer coaching services.
Peer mentoring and peer learning alliances
You can also get help or advice from other people in a similar situation, such as people of a similar age or background. When setting up a business, this is likely to involve contacting someone who is also trying to set up a business and faces similar issues. Like business mentoring, this can be as formal or informal as you like.
Networking
The wider world of networking allows you to meet a range of business people. You can do this at a local level – by talking to other business people in your area – or at a much broader level, eg through social networking websites and professional networks such as LinkedIn, Plaxo and Ecademy.
Sources of information about local networking groups or meetings are available from your local Chamber of Commerce, business advisers or trade associations. There are also Business Collaboration Networks – part of a range of support offered through the government’s Solutions for Business portfolio. Solutions for Business is a package of products and services designed to help businesses start, grow and succeed.
For links to Solutions for Business advice and support, see our Solutions for Business portfolio.
Professional advice
For tax and legal issues, it is important to seek professional advice. See our guides on how to choose and work with an accountant and choose and work with a solicitor.
Becoming a business mentor
If you already have plenty of business experience, you could consider offering your services as a mentor to other businesses. This can be a very rewarding way of passing on the benefits of your experience.
As a mentor, your role is to support, develop, stimulate and challenge your mentee, whether they’re just starting up in business or are already established and seeking guidance.
You can mentor in a variety of ways – including online, face to face, by telephone, or as part of a discussion group. You can charge a fee for your services or offer free support.
The Get Mentoring initiative
Get Mentoring aims to increase the number of volunteer business mentors in the UK by recruiting and training 15,000 volunteer mentors from the small, medium and micro business community. The initiative is led by the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative.
A free training course – Introduction to Enterprise Mentoring – will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to become an effective mentor.
Register for free business mentor training on the Get Mentoring website- Opens in a new window.
Mentorsme.co.uk
Mentorsme.co.uk is the national web portal that allows businesses to access mentoring services. Once you’re registered as a mentor, mentees will be able to find your details on the Mentorsme.co.uk website.
Find out about becoming a business mentor on the Mentorsme.co.uk website- Opens in a new window.
What you’ll need to become a business mentor
To mentor other business people effectively you need the right skills and experience. You should have:
- the ability to listen and empathise
- respect for other people’s views
- experience of the problems faced by small businesses
- the ability to offer encouragement and sympathy
- a supportive, hands-off approach that allows others to make their own decisions
- a willingness to volunteer your time and skills
You should also have a good, broad understanding of business. Many small businesses look for mentors who have expertise in particular areas or functions, such as:
- finance
- sales and marketing
- public relations
- strategy and planning
- negotiation
- operations
Further information for finding or becoming a business mentor
There are several organisations that make mentors available to businesses. Many of these are represented on the national business mentoring network, Mentorsme.co.uk.
Mentorsme.co.uk lets you:
- search for business mentors, according to their location and/or area of expertise
- offer your services as a business mentor, through an existing mentoring organisation
Business mentors on the Mentorsme.co.uk website- Opens in a new window.
There are more than 10,000 mentors available on the network. Both face-to-face and online support is offered, and many mentors have particular expertise in areas such as finance, leadership and innovation.
Mentorsme.co.uk is funded by the British Bankers’ Association and supported by the Better Business Finance Roundtable, which includes the key business groups in the UK. It is backed by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.
Other main providers of business mentoring services
You can also find business mentors through the networks listed below.
Read information about online mentoring on the Freelance Advisor website- Opens in a new window.
Read information about online business mentoring on the horsesmouth website- Opens in a new window.
Read information about online mentoring on the Enterprise Nation website- Opens in a new window.
Further sources of advice
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) network can point you towards business mentors with the skills and experience you need.
Find contact information for the BCC on the BCC website- Opens in a new window.
You can call the British Chambers of Commerce on Tel 024 7669 4484.
If your business operates in the creative or technology sectors, the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) may be able to recommend suitable mentors from its network.
You can call the NESTA Helpline on Tel 020 7438 2500.
Businesses looking for mentoring support with leadership and management issues can contact the Management and Leadership Network (MLN).
Find contact information for the MLN e-mentoring scheme on the MLN website- Opens in a new window.
You can call the Management and Leadership Network InfoPoint on Tel 0845 602 6634.
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