BUSINESS MENTOR - A Structured Approach to Mentoring Sessions

At The Capstone Group we have a structured approach to mentoring sessions. In our view a mentor adds value in four ways:rn1.A mentor provides a valuable self-discipline tool. Much like a personal trainer a mentor will facilitate and ensure goals are achieved and tasks accomplished. Having to meet with someone on a regular basis is a strong encouragement to action;rn2.A mentor should cast a critical eye over the strategic direction of the business. We review the strategic documents and analyse them using methodologies developed over years spent assisting SME’s. If there is no strategic plan we assist in the preparation of one;rn3.A sounding board for advice and a good listener. A good mentor knows when to listen and when to talk. It’s a trust relationship that has one over-arching purpose – the business success of the mentee;rn4.Looking at business processes are how they are correlated. The use of a Balanced Scorecard, which started with large companies, is becoming increasingly common with many SME’s. rnBusiness is increasingly competitive and many SME’s are being squeezed from many angles. It is increasingly important to take time to consider why you are in business and what your competitive advantage is.rnIt is no longer enough to open (metaphorically speaking) the doors and get ready for the customers to come rolling in. You have to win business and show why your business has the better product or services or is cost competitive compared with competitors. It is vital to look at what the competitive strengths are and how the business is positioned. A mentor is a valuable resource for this.rnThe accounting profession is a case in point. Technology and freely available information has meant that many SME’s can use a bookkeeper to prepare final accounts for the business – rather than having an external accountant to prepare the accounts. The growth for accountants is recognising that historical information is just one facet of information that business should be looking at. rnMany businesses need to step back at look at the services they are offering and what is the short to medium term growth in those services. Do they need to add new services or products if they are in a mature industry (such as the profession of pure accounting services)? Do they need to market to a new range of customers with perhaps greater spending power?rnWe cannot stress how important a strategic plan for a business is. As part of our mentor program we evaluate the plan and then all mentor sessions then include evaluating short term targets and initiatives against that strategic plan. We use a balanced scorecard for this that is tailored to your business.rnCall us today to see how a tailored mentor program could work for you.