Mentoring

The role of a mentor is to provide guidance, support, expertise and contacts, and to act as a sounding board to stimulate and challenge. A mentor is a coach not a consultant who provides opinions and ideas but not professional services. A good mentor is able to build strong and trusting relationships, is empathetic, a good listener and has both specialist and general knowledge of the problems likely to be faced by the person or people being mentored.

Innovators, unless experienced in the commercialisation process, can face new challenges. A mentor with experience in this area can smooth the pathways increasing the opportunity of creating a successful venture. The advice of someone who has been there and done it before is invaluable.

The benefits of mentoring include:

• Access to knowledge and advice, decreasing the opportunity to make mistakes,
• Access to challenging and different perspectives,
• Provision of practical assistance in newly encountered situations,
• An empathetic ear in decision making,
• Development of potential and knowledge,
• Increased confidence to meet new challenges,
• Development of new networks and contacts,
• Encouragement in difficult times,
• Support to achieve goals,
• Complementary assistance to formal training.

Life in your own in business can be a lonely existence and problems can seem insurmountable without an empathetic ear to turn to in times of need or on a regular scheduled basis. A business mentor is there to help you solve your problems for yourself and to challenge you to drive your business forward. Mentoring can be provided by phone, email, Skype or face to face in whatever combination works for your location and business.