This week I had my six - weekly meeting with my business mentor, Bernard. I found Bernard through Business Link (www.businesslink.gov.uk) who put me in touch with Prevista (www.prevista.co.uk) who put me in touch with Bernard. I’ve been meeting Bernard – originally on a monthly basis - since www.WorkingMums.co.uk was just a 10 page business plan and a web requirements document.
I’m lucky in that I get a lot of support for what I’m doing from those around me – without my husband Leigh I probably wouldn’t have managed to get things off the ground. His input, encouragement and words of support are invaluable (as are his internet and accounting skills!). I have a great au-pair and my in-laws will move mountains to help out at short notice (and have been known to change flights to help us out). My parents, who live in France, arrange holidays around us -helping out with our “long range” childcare needs and my friends provide a great outlet for “venting” (which I really do try my best not to do too regularly).
But, every month I find I get to a point where it’s Bernard that I want to see. I know that whatever the month has thrown at me I will come away from a mentoring session feeling back on top and in control. Bernard has a great business pedigree – starting, owning, buying and selling businesses as well as being Chairman and non-executive director of several others. He has first hand experience (albeit on a much larger scale) of many of the issues and challenges I face as the owner of a small business. What I find particularly valuable is to be able to discuss the business with someone outside of my social network – knowing that Bernard’s perspective on the business and the advice he gives as a mentor is completely objective, as he isn’t emotionally involved in WorkingMums in the same way as family and friends inevitably are.
At some sessions I’ll just talk about what’s happened over the last month – the things that have gone well and the things that haven’t gone so well; I’ll talk through my plans for the upcoming weeks. At other sessions I turn up with a list of problems that I’m struggling with and there is the occasional week where I’ll turn up and “vent”. At every session, without fail, Bernard will put me on a road to finding solutions for issues, will identify a gap or area that needs attention, and will provide encouragement and guidance where required. He shares my delight in successes and helps me overcome stumbling blocks. I never leave a session without two or three nuggets of his wisdom that help me to improve the business I am building.
The combination of information provided by Business Link and Bernard’s mentoring through Prevista have been invaluable to me (and WorkingMums) both as a pre-start-up and a start-up. Business Link have a great website and lots of local networking events (which I’ve yet to take advantage of). Prevista’s mentoring service was free to me as a pre-start-up, but now that WorkingMums is officially trading I pay a small fee. (I had no hesitation in paying this fee - particularly when compared to £350 per hour for mentoring through the Institute of Directors, which frankly is not an option for a small, new business needing to keep a tight rein on costs).
To anyone thinking of setting up on their own – or who is in the early stages of running their own business I’d definitely recommend Business Link as a first port of call. Equally, I think the right mentor can be invaluable. There are lots of organisations that offer mentoring support (some particularly aimed at women starting their own businesses / women owned businesses). They don’t all cost the earth - and some are free - so its worth doing some research. The websites below are a good place to start:
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