For further information on the NWDA visit: www.nwda.co.uk
Business Mentoring Dedicated development support to help you improve your business Interested? The Business Mentoring Programme will deliver mentoring throughout the Northwest using a network of providers. To register for Business Mentoring or to find out more, visit: www.businesslinknw.co.uk/mentoring or call 0845 00 66 888
Funded by
BM2 May 10
For more information on Business Mentoring, visit www.businesslinknw.co.uk/mentoring or call 0845 00 66 888
Are you running your business, or is it running you?
Solutions for Business Our Purpose
Solutions for Business is a suite of highly targeted, publicly funded products and services offering solutions to real business needs and tackling market failure. Designed to drive qualifying businesses forward, it helps them to grow and succeed by providing help in a number of areas. These include starting up, understanding finance, developing people, environment and efficiency, exploiting ideas, international sales and marketing and growing your business.
Our Promise
Solutions for Business helps you make the most of business opportunities and challenges. By targeting public money at real business needs, it helps businesses create sustainable success.
Funded by
Business Mentoring is funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) and is delivered by a number of providers on our behalf. The NWDA leads the economic development and regeneration of England’s Northwest. For further information on the NWDA visit our corporate website www.nwda.co.uk
Further Information
To find out more about Business Mentoring, visit: www.businesslinknw.co.uk/mentoring If you wish to discuss wider business support contact Business Link Northwest: visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northwest or call 0845 00 66 888
Do you ever feel you would like to spend more time on the business, rather than in the business? Have you already tried training courses or leadership and management programmes and felt that these were not for you? The Business Mentoring programme will enable you to work on the business. Designed specifically to help leaders and senior managers of small businesses to develop leadership skills, Business Mentoring is available on a one-to-one or group basis. Tell me more‌ It’s not always easy to stand back and consider whether you are working at your best as a business leader or whether you could develop your leadership potential further. Business Mentoring is a supportive and inspirational relationship based on trust and mutual respect. It is about developing your leadership ability and potential allowing you to optimise your business performance. The programme gives you access to a mentor who will help and encourage you to become more innovative as a business leader. They will challenge and question you but ultimately they will support you to make the right business decisions.
How does Business Mentoring work? Business Mentoring offers a priceless opportunity to learn from and be inspired by an experienced senior business leader or manager. It is available as: One-to-one mentoring You will be matched with an experienced, dedicated mentor who will support your personal leadership and management development to help grow your business. Your mentor will be a role model and sounding board who will offer knowledge and insight, and will motivate you to develop your ability and potential. You’ll set the tone and pace of your mentoring relationship and you’ll agree where, when and how often you meet. If geographical or time barriers could make regular meetings difficult for you, e-mentoring can be incorporated. E-mentoring will give you the flexibility to talk to your mentor on a one-to-one basis by telephone, email and the internet. Group mentoring As part of a group of up to eight like-minded business people, you will meet monthly for a series of six sessions in order to mentor each other by exchanging ideas, experiences and learning, all with the guidance of a trained mentor. With the support of peers who are encountering similar business challenges and the help of your mentor, group mentoring will enable you to develop new skills and create innovative ideas to grow your business. Whichever form of Business Mentoring you choose, you will have access to quality assured mentors, all chosen carefully based on their personality, skills and experience. The length of your mentoring relationship will vary depending on your needs.
How will mentoring help me? Research into the benefits of mentoring for businesses has shown that it can lead to:
> Improved business understanding, performance and productivity > Enhanced confidence and job satisfaction > Increased ideas generation and knowledge enhancement > Improved decision making skills Business Mentoring is about you. You’ll set the agenda by telling us your goals and we’ll then match you with a suitable mentor who can help you achieve these. Who will my mentor be? All our mentors are knowledgeable and skilled business leaders, managers or entrepreneurs who have experience at a senior level. They understand the highs and lows of running a business and they want to support people like you in small businesses. All our mentors receive a full induction, ongoing training and assistance to further develop their skills. What’s the cost? There isn’t one. One-to-one and group mentoring are both free to qualifying business owners, leaders and senior managers. All you need to commit is a few hours of your time each month. How is Business Mentoring being delivered? Business Mentoring is being delivered by a network of experienced providers across the Northwest, all of whom are working in accordance with a Quality Framework.
How do I know if I’m eligible for Business Mentoring? > Your organisation must be based in the Northwest > You must have a leadership role in your organisation > You must be willing to drive your business forward and want to see growth > You must not be already receiving government funded business support, such as Intensive Start-up Support (ISUS), LEAD or High Growth Programme To be eligible for one-to-one mentoring, your business must have been trading for a minimum of 12 months and have a turnover of less than £2 million. To be eligible for group mentoring your business must have been trading for a minimum of 12 months and have a turnover of less than £500,000 or up to 10 employees. Could you be a one-to-one business mentor? If you have the experience, knowledge and wisdom to inspire other leaders and managers, then you may want to join the programme as a business mentor. Supporting small businesses can be extremely rewarding and enables you to ‘give something back’ to the local business community. I’m definitely interested – what’s the next step? To find out more about Business Mentoring or to register, contact Business Link Northwest on 0845 00 66 888 or visit www.businesslinknw.co.uk/mentoring
“My mentor helped me to use the confidence that I knew I had” Alison Watson, Class of Your Own Case Study Alison Watson established ‘Class of Your Own’ to encourage students of architecture and construction to learn about every aspect of the profession from design to building and marketing. Why did you join the mentoring programme? “I entered the mentoring programme because I knew that I wanted to take Class of Your Own to the next level. I’m ambitious and really believe in the role that the company can play in assisting young people.” What was your experience of mentoring? “My mentor has a wealth of marketing and sales experience in larger companies and has been instrumental in the growth of many other companies. For that reason, he was a great sounding board to every aspect of the business.” How did you and your business benefit? “Having a mentor has made a significant difference to Class of Your Own and to me. He has helped me to use the confidence that I knew I had for the benefit of the business. His mentoring has encouraged me to believe in what I can achieve and this has led to my business applying for and receiving some serious funding support that takes us to the next level of growth.”