As a business owner you have a lot on your plate. Some days you just seem be firefighting, others hopefully give you a bit more room to breathe. You are wondering about entering new markets or maybe considering changing location. But is it the right thing to do?
WSX Enterprise, who manage the Aldershot Enterprise Centre, runs many projects with business mentoring built in; for start ups, businesses that want to survive, grow and improve. Our experience is that mentoring gives businesses a greater chance of succeeding.
You want your business to become established, grow and achieve, and at the very minimum provide a living wage for you and your family. A Mentor is there to act as a sounding board, to support your thinking, guide you and to seek evidence that your plans for your business are sustainable. Our advisors and mentors have many years of experience and many connections.
Using their own business experience, a Mentor will question and challenge you to explore all your options thoroughly, help you to seek answers to any questions you may have and support you so you can make informed decisions, agree actions, and then implement them.
In helping you achieve the above, a Mentor won’t run the business for you or take any decisions. Any action plan has to be agreed and will be implemented and completed with you in control.
As a result of this dialogue with your Mentor, you and your business will benefit from looking at specific situations, opportunities, or challenges from a broader, new or different perspective.
Six areas a Mentor will talk to you about:
1) Where are you hoping to take the business?
What will it ideally look like in two- or three-years’ time? Beyond that, when do you hope to exit/sell your business? Do you have any form of Business Plan or Financial Forecast?
2) Where do you want to add most value to the business?
What aspect of the work you do is essential versus recruit/contract in additional resources to provide you with more time?
3) Who are your most profitable clients?
Are there any clients where the margin is poor or even non-existent?
4) Forecasting and Cash Flow
What revenue/margin do you expect to make next month and over the coming 12 months? Risk Assessment – What do you see as the top 3 risks to the business? (In other words, what keeps you awake at night?)
5) Competition
Why would I (or a real client) buy from you versus one of your competitors?
6) How will you create or increase demand for your product or service?
Who is your target audience? Where are they, how many are there and why would they buy from you?
At the Aldershot Enterprise Centre we offer a Free Business Mentor for your first 6 months of tenancy or you can visit www.mentor-net.co.uk for more information about our paid for mentoring service.
