Many people end up owning and operating their own small business almost by accident. Take, for example, many tradespeople. They will often go through many years’ training in an apprenticeship, work for another person in the same trade and then decide that they can do this for themselves.
What are the motivations for this course of action?
- Money – if I do this myself, I can make all the money instead of just earning a wage
- Quality – many people believe, rightly or wrongly that they can do things “better” than their boss
- Freedom – the ability to manage one’s own time and not be tied into someone else’s time schedule
In all our years of experience, we have seen many instances of these types of businesses which have been extremely successful. However, there are many instances where such businesses have either failed very quickly or continue to struggle. Why is this?
- inadequate capital – far too many businesses try to get off the ground without adequate funds
- lack of business training – new business owners are simply unprepared for the onslaught of things which need to be done other than simply earning money
- employment issues – the traps for unwary business owners in employing staff are varied and many
Some businesses can pull themsleves out of this type of malaise with a minimal amount of formal planning. This is where a mentor can help.
How do I find a Mentor?
A search on the internet will reveal a plethora of business coaches and mentors whom will claim to increase profits and income by many times within a short period of time. We are not saying they are wrong, far from it! However, the question still remains, how do I choose a business mentor for my business? At TNG, we believe that personal service and relationship building is the key to any successful mentoring arrangement. Some mentoring organisations these days are corporate giants who approach the task via a series of internal checklists where the “personal” touch is limited to a regular telephone conversation. We believe that for a mentoring arrangement to be truly successful, it must be based on trust and personal contact. If you need our personal involvement in your business and practical, results driven programs, then we have the program for you.
The TNG Mentoring Program
STEP 1: Meet with you and your partners, perform a brief “health check” and agree on terms of reference for the program
STEP 2: Prepare an engagement letter which sets out our reponsibilites, your responsibilites and timelines
STEP 3: Commence the program which can be a mixture of personal visits, telephone calls, email support and supply of written documentation
Before deciding to undertake any sort of mentoring program for yourself, there are a couple of factors that you must consider seriously:
- You will only get out of a mentoring program what you are prepared to put in. A typical mentoring call will leave you with a number of taks to complete within a given time-frame. If you are not prepared to find the time (often, at the beginning of the process, this means “extra” time), nothing will improve.
- Things will not happen overnight. Any new measures you put in place to improve the way your business operates will only come as a result of hard work and application.
We have attached a “Do I need a Mentor?” Checklist for you to look at and consider. If you feel that you could benefit from some time with us, please complete the attached checklist and send it back. We will contact you to arrange a no obligation one hour session to discuss your requirements and suggest how we may be of help.
Attach “Do I need a Business Mentor” Checklist (pdf)