How Our Mentoring Works

Mentors are trusted business guides who share their in-depth experience to help you develop your business. Mentoring is about listening to you, helping you plan and keeping you motivated. Mentoring works especially well when clients take an active part throughout the process compared to giving a brief and just being handed a file of someone else's recommendations at the end. Being told what to do with your business doesn't usually lead to a happy outcome, particularly when you haven't been involved in the thought process.

Listening

Having a Mentor to listen to your hopes and problems helps lessen the burden and can provide a sounding board for future development. Your Mentor is skilled at looking at issues from a range of perspectives, providing practical insight and suggesting alternative view points.

Motivating

It can be hard to get motivated when you lack a clear plan, or need skills you don't have, or are overwhelmed by the tasks that lie ahead. This is when a Mentor can help. As they are not involved directly with your business they are able to cut through the day to day problems and help you look at the wider picture and work towards achieving set goals.

Planning

Most businesses concentrate on today and not tomorrow. Yet the tomorrow is critical if the business is to grow. Our Mentors concentrate on both the current issues and the future direction required to make the business prosper. Mentors will work with you to look to the future and build a plan that sets out clear steps to follow.

Note: Metropolitan and Regional

SBMS Mentors are usually retired or semi-retired Volunteers who offer their assistance at low subsidised rates to help you make your business better. In most instances the Mentor will come to you. If you live outside of a mentors listed area (Mentors work areas are shown under their Profile), Mentors will be happy to meet you at an agreed location. 

If you are a regional client seeking a metropolitan mentor or the reverse, you can still choose any mentor provided you are prepared to travel to meet at an agreed location. In general if a selected Mentor does not travel to your region we will endeavor to find a suitable more local one.