Five ways a mentor can help your business

The phone rings, an email declares its arrival and a customer needs you urgently. A day running a business is over before you know it.

The rewards of extra freedom and the ability to carve out your own future can sometimes be overshadowed by the stresses of day-to-day business life. Or maybe you just have too many orders, you’re too successful. You’re also, quite often, on your own.

All this leaves little time for strategic thinking and establishing longer term business objectives. So, who can you call on for help?

More business owners and senior managers are achieving their goals through quality mentoring from someone who’s been there and got the t-shirt.

If you’ve never considered engaging a business mentor before, here are five ways mentors could help you to develop and grow your business:

Objectivity – A mentor can help you ‘see the woods for the trees’. Very often you’ll get caught up in the day-to-day running of your business rather than working on the business. Would an objective view help?

Experience – Business mentors know the pitfalls and how to avoid them. They know the benefits of doing certain things that it’s easy to ignore, such as managing the finances effectively, staff development and marketing.

Support – It can be lonely at the top. A mentor is someone you can confide in and use as a sounding board. They can help guide you to success.

Strategy – Many businesses don’t fail because they have a bad product or service, they fail due to a lack of strategy. A mentor will help you shape your strategy so you are clear on the route to growth.

Skills and knowledge – A business mentor will have leadership, management and functional skills and also may be a specialist in your sector. How valuable could that be?

So, if you’ve heard of mentoring and are keen to know more, perhaps it’s time to dip your toe into a world that could deliver much more than you ever thought possible.

Community & Business Partners offers a range of mentoring support through the Boost Business Lancashire growth hub.

Find out more

Boost Business Lancashire offers a growth mentoring programme matching business owners with experienced entrepreneurs. To apply for a place on the programme, complete our online form or call 0800 488 0057. 

Author

Jane Houghton-Fenning, Business Development Director, Community & Business Partners.