A HELPING HAND

Guiding you through the tough times, experienced business people who have been there and done that are available to offer you their mentoring services. Jill Acheson Reveals the benefits that can be achieved through mentoring

Starting your own business can be a daunting task and for many aspiring entrepreneurs, the early days can be tough and you may not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Along with funding, staffing, sales and premise woes comes the responsibility of constant clear thinking and maintaining an unwavering will to succeed. Luckily, here in Ireland we live in an entrepreneurial society, and thankfully you don’t have to go it alone, there are mentors available to guide you through the tough times. One of the best ways to ensure that your new business will not fail is to find and work with a mentor, that is, someone with vast business experience who can guide and assist you and your business.

Tailored to Meet Your Needs

The word mentor stems from the Greek language, meaning a trusted advisor, friend and confidante. In the business world, mentoring occurs when a more experienced professional, the mentor, gives significant career assistance to the aspiring entrepreneur, sometimes called the protégé. The need for a mentor may be triggered at different stages, usually during a period of transition such as the launch of a new business, the introduction of a new product, or the expansion of the existing business. Mentoring is a customised tutoring service tailored to help you develop your business skills. It will help you to overcome problem areas that are inhibiting your business development.

Exceeding Your Objectives

Mentoring offers a specialised and individualised form of assistance, which is flexible and is essentially under the control of the start-up. At the outset, it is vital to have a set of clear objectives enabling you and your mentor to achieve and to exceed the desired results. Mentors are wise and trusted counsellors, who utilise their knowledge, experience, and persistence while simultaneously offering the start-up guidance, advice, and training. There are a number of mentoring services on offer in Ireland from agencies and state bodies and they can also be independently sourced.

Matching Mentor with Protégé

Terry Judge of the independent coaching and mentoring company, Mind Solutions explains that, “the need for a mentor can be triggered by an increased desire for career progression, where you feel the need to move on in your career and to deal with the key areas that are inhibiting this progression.” There are subtle psychological benefits gained from the use of a role model, leading to a greater self belief and an enhanced hunger for achievement. Mentoring helps establish a greater ability to adapt to change. The formation of a solid trust and an open relationship is really important, as well as discussing all your business or motivational fears with your mentor. Judge says, “the two key benefits of using a mentor are a higher resilience and a heightened career insight.”

Charlie Kelly, Manager of Enterprise Ireland’s Mentoring Network says that the first step for any business is for them to be referred to Enterprise Ireland’s mentor service. They can be referred by a member of Enterprise Ireland’s staff or by the County and City Enterprise Boards. Kelly describes the mentoring network as a kind of package deal, initiated by Enterprise Ireland, which firstly examines the start-up and their problem areas in an overall context. They then create a customised shortlist of three mentors for the client to choose from, giving the client control over their choice of mentor.

A Flexible service

Enterprise Ireland has a choice of approximately two hundred mentors available at any one time for the client to choose from. The mentor offers a consistent challenge to the company, examining all options, letting the client decide which option to run with. The duration of the service is flexible allowing a maximum of ten visits, spread over twelve months. The regularity of the meetings sustains the momentum, while gaps of no more than two months are advised ensuring that a clear focus is maintained.

Kelly says that an essential point to remember is that, the mentors are not consultants; therefore the client chooses the best option offered and ultimately has the power to implement these plans. “The mentors are all successful executives, who volunteer to share their knowledge, gathered from past and present business experiences. The mentors are all highly experienced, and despite perceptions to the contrary, they are not all retired, in fact they are ageless as they are driven by the opportunity to tutor an up and coming business. The mentors thoroughly enjoy it, they enjoy working with and helping people and they gain just as much from the experience as the client,” Kelly explains.

The mentors come from a wide spectrum of Irish industries, such as tourism, food, consumer and software sectors. Enterprise Ireland divides the mentorships into sectors; consumer, industrial, retailing, foods and tourism, and the functional; finance and banks, HR, production, strategic planning, and sales and marketing. The country’s Business Innovation Centres (BIC’s) assist in the emergence and the expansion of both new and established small businesses, also offering a mentoring service. The BIC’s accompany selected entrepreneurs through the start-up years and continue to assist the business through the early stages by offering business development planning through their after-care services.

Positive experience

One entrepreneur who has availed of the services of a mentor is Nigel Dickson of Irish Professional Risks. Dickson decided to avail of a mentor when he had the option of setting up his own business or staying within the employment of an existing business. Dickson knew that he wanted to go it alone and start his own business, as he had an abundance of experience within the entertainment and leisure sector of insurance brokering. Dickson says that insurance is an extremely competitive market place so he knew he needed to refine his business strategy and create a business model before approaching a mentor. He knew his main weakness was administration, but he had an excellent sales background. Dickson needed to develop new systems and to administer the business as it grew, so it was in this area which he needed the services of a mentor.

The main benefits for Dickson are an enhanced form of self discipline, a highly positive mindset plus the motivation to ensure his business venture is a success. Depending on the individual, the need for mentoring stems from the need to get out of, or over a crisis. The regularity of the mentoring helps to instil discipline and Dickson feels that it is something that he personally needed. In this instance the mentor and the protégé meet twice a month, for a couple of hours, running through changes and deciding which areas need focus. Dickson would most definitely recommend the use of a mentor. “It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you’re serious about your business, a mentor will highlight the problem areas that you may not even be aware of.”

Trust and an open relationship between the mentor and their client are vital, as according to Dickson, there would be no point otherwise. “You have to be able to take what the mentor says seriously and when you’re working together closely a trust develops very quickly. If you’re not prepared to be open there is no point in accessing a mentor. We are our own worst self critics; we won’t admit that we’re doing something wrong and that we need to deal with the problem area. You need to criticise yourself and mentoring offers this in a constructive manner,” he reveals

Published in the July/August 2007 Issue of Irish Entrepreneur