Talk to me about business coaching/mentoring

[Belle Vie]

I understand that Business Link no longer offer free courses and have instead put all of the information online for you to trawl through. For lots of reasons this really doesn't work for me and I'm sure it doesn't for others too.

So my question for you is do you use a business coach or mentor? If not would you use one or is there someone else you go to for guidance or direction? How do you go about finding someone to mentor/coach and is this an affordable service for a small business?

Would love to hear your experiences or thoughts on this.

 

[AmberExt]

Chamber of commerce should be in every town, its a yearly subscription but you get invites to all the business meetings and awards and clubs etc, you should get a mentor included.


In my town we have a government start up initiative and 2 annual business expos, some other towns will also, and jobcentre & princes trust if your within their requirements.



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[Nat-Nat]

I recently attended a free action coach course and they were saying that they were about to secure part funding so maybe see if there's one near you?

Also try your local council, ours is great for local business support and I've been on many courses through them free of charge!

 

[Beansy]

I'd say having a mentor is absolutely affordable to a business. Okay, admittedly I work part time as a freelance management consultant and so do this on a regular basis. However! I think anyone considering a coach/mentor has to bear in mind that yes, there's a cost involved but the benefits in the longer term should far outweigh the initial spend. They are there to help you grow your business and support you, so you should both be working in partnership & increasing your profit margin.

There are volunteer mentors (and they do a fab job) but obviously you'll be limited to how much time they can / will commit to you.

As you generally need more support at the beginning when you review the business / what's needed etc, one option is to pay someone for this so that you know you have the time / commitment required. Longer term you could look for a volunteer mentor who is more likely only going to offer a few hours per month.

If you're looking for free support, try http://ioee.co.uk/mentoring/how-it-works-mentees