Mentoring Format

How confidential are my sessions with a Mentor?

Completely confidential. To be of benefit the mentoring will touch on very confidential and sometimes personal issues. It is therefore essential that these aspects are kept between you and the Mentor. Please see our Privacy and Confidentiality Statement at the bottom of this page.

Will changing the Mentor cost more money?

No, you pay for the number of Mentoring sessions regardless of who the Mentors are. In fact we encourage you to change mentors if you are seeking help in different areas. The best mentor for you initially may focus on one area of the business, but ultimately assist you in identifying that another area may need help. Your Mentor can steer you towards an alternate mentor with the skills needed for the areas identified.

If my original Mentor cannot provide all the assistance I need is another Mentor able to assist?

Yes. Your original Mentor will quickly determine if you need to see another Mentor with different skills that match your particular issues. They will arrange the transfer to another Mentor. In fact we encourage you to change mentors if you are seeking help in different areas. The best mentor for you initially may focus on one area of the business, but ultimately assist you in identifying that another area may need help. Your Mentor can steer you towards an alternate mentor with the skills needed for the areas identified.

Is my Mentor allowed to undertake additional paid work from me in addition to the mentoring sessions?

No. A Mentor signs a Code of Ethics when joining the SBMS Experienced Business Mentors Service and one of the clauses prohibits a Mentor from gaining any commercial benefit from their mentoring work.

However, Mentors are able to take on additional sessions and in some instances, depending on need, can offer extended mentoring where they assist in doing rather than advising. In these instances the mentor will discuss with you the scope and limitations of what can be offered.

Are there any business tools that can help me?

There are a number of standard business tools such as business and marketing plans that you can download. Go to the Free Resources tab in this website. Keep in mind that the resources are designed to be used in conjunction with a mentor and this is the best way to gain the full benefit of the resources and templates on offer. Your Mentor will also bring with them a range of tools, templates and checklists to assist you with your business.  

What time of day are Mentors available?

Generally Mentors operate during business hours and not in the evenings or weekends.

How long a gap is there between sessions?

There is no set period. It will depend on several factors and your Mentor will assess this with you to determine the ideal date for the next meeting. It may be as short as a week or can be a month or more. It is not however a good idea to let time elapse otherwise the momentum can be lost.  

Will I have a record of my mentoring sessions?

Yes. After each session your Mentor will write a brief report covering the important issues discussed and list the Action Items to be carried out. This report will be the starting point for the next meeting.

Who should attend the mentoring sessions from my business?

As a minimum we strongly recommend all joint owners are present at least for the first session. Otherwise there is the possibility that the process starts off with misunderstandings. There is no reason to restrict your asking other employees to join sessions if this suits the issues under discussion but this should be kept to one or two only otherwise it becomes difficult to remain focussed on the key issues at hand.

What sort of activities would Action Items cover?          

Action Items are not onerous but will assist you in clarifying issues and gaining more insight into your business. They will relate to the progress needed to build your business or resolve problems and will cover all aspects of the issues being discussed.

What is my involvement in the mentoring process?

Research has shown that learning occurs when people listen, take notes then actually are given a task to apply this learning. At the conclusion of each mentoring session you and your Mentor will agree a set of actions that you will need to carry out as part of the process of building your business and addressing the issues. These Action Items will be reviewed and refined during the course of the mentoring process.  

What topics are covered during my mentoring sessions?

This depends on your specific problems or challenges. Some clients need immediate advice to remain in business whilst others need more strategic long term support. Our Clients have a wide diversity of questions and issues and our Mentors are chosen for their broad range of skills and ability to apply practical solutions.

How many times do I see the Mentor?

That is up to you. We recommend a minimum of four sessions with each session lasting about 1 1/2 hours. We advise this as the first session is finding out about your business or proposed business and the remaining sessions are devoted to setting simple action points to work on. Please see the Program Directory section on the website.

Do I need to do any preparation prior to the first mentoring session?

The more information you can give your Mentor at the first session the better, as this will speed up the time taken to understand your business and issues. Some of the subjects that your Mentor will be interested to learn about would include your financial position, your vision and ideas, any challenges and any opportunities that you face and an overview of your industry and what your service or product is. As an idea, you can download our pre meeting diagnostic from the Free Resources area. This document will give the mentor all the information they need to be able to assist you.

Do I have to have a Business Plan prior to the first mentoring session?

There is no doubt that a Business Plan is a help but many small businesses don’t have one and this will not be a hindrance in your seeing a Mentor. If you have a Business Plan your Mentor should get a copy ideally prior to the first meeting. You can download a Business Plan template from the Free Resources tab on this web site. Your discussions with your Mentor will help to create a vision and strategies for a Business Plan.  

Does the Mentoring program follow a standard format?

Every Client has differing issues and the role of the Mentor is to work with you to address and help solve those issues. This requires concentrating on the issues not on any standard format.  

What happens after I have decided to see a Mentor and sent off the application?

Assuming that payment has been made by the credit card option you should get a call from the SBMS Head Office after a few working days and once the confirmation letter is emailed, your Mentor should be in contact with you within a further 3 days. Allow therefore 5 to 6 working days. If paying by Direct Bank Deposit or by Cheque you should allow a further 3 to 4 days.