A minute with a Boost mentor: David Grant

As part of promoting the valuable mentoring support delivered through Boost’s Growth Mentoring programme, we highlight some of the mentors behind the scenes that work with Lancashire businesses. So take a break for a minute and read about David Grant, a specialist in business planning and strategy in the drinks sector.

Why did you choose to become a mentor?

I became a mentor in 2016 when my professional life was changing, and I wanted to 'give back'. I had received business support and help from the Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, and the Boost Program was a fantastic opportunity for me to help other local business owners.

How do you make a real difference to Lancashire businesses?

The feedback I receive is that I help business owners identify a clear path and strategy to achieve their goal. We make the time to discuss the most important issues to the owner and business, agree timescales and hold people accountable.

What is your area of expertise and why is it an important area to for business leaders to address?

Although I specialise in business planning and strategy in the drinks sector, business is about people and how they are treated. A business leader with a well-developed plan but who is prepared to communicate and share that plan with the rest of the business will have an easier path to success. It is important for a business leader to trust the team, allow them to do what they are paid for, give them the responsibility alongside the accountability. I help leaders to feel good about letting go.

What has been your most inspirational moment as a mentor?

There are so many worthwhile moments as a mentor, to see an individual decide and commit to a plan which has been deliberated for months, to see the penny drop and to know that the help you are giving is changing someone or something for the better.

What are the key challenges for Lancashire businesses at the moment?

To embrace our new lives post the pandemic, open business slowly and carefully, controlling costs to allow cash flow to catch up and not to be pressurised to go back to the way things were.

As a mentor, what are your three business growth tips?

1. Don’t sacrifice profit for turnover. 2. Have a plan and visualise where you want to be and when, share it if you can. 3. Have great people around you. Boost Growth Mentor David Grant David has spent over thirty years in the brewing and drinks industry working with both liquor brands and retail outlets, his background in sales and marketing helped him develop one of the oldest micro breweries into a regional icon in beer production. He now runs his own business consultancy specialising in the drinks and hospitality sector and is a also a Boost Growth Mentor.