Business mentoring is credited as a major contributor to the success of small and medium size business growth in the UK. As a form of support it goes beyond formulas to a collaborative 1:1 relationship where motivations, goals, strategy and skills development are the focus of attention.
Our mentors are business leaders who have achieved notable entrepreneurial success or have a background in senior executive level positions across all business areas and sectors. They become your confidential ally, offering an experienced sounding board, and foster an open and encouraging relationship to support you to achieve your business goals. Mentors impart calm, fresh thinking and guidance, helping you to identify and analyse opportunity and risk, and develop the skills you need to overcome challenges.
Mentoring as a type of support is highly effective at all stages of business and our experience demonstrates there is no ‘one mentor fits all’ approach. You will be expertly matched with a personal mentor who can offer you the greatest value. However, as your needs change so can your mentor, or you can access the specific skills of an additional mentor to help you focus on a particular area of your business. This ability to access the sheer range of specialist expertise among over 125+ Mentors on an as needed basis is essential.
As a county, Dorset is home to a diverse and resourceful business community and this is reflected across the type and size of businesses we work with: from sole traders to employers of up to 250, from the food & drink sector to IT and creatives, engineering to crafts and services, web businesses to social enterprises and charities - the list is varied and colourful! Dorset Business Mentors provide support to businesses trading locally, nationally and internationally where there is clear growth potential.
Our service is well established and highly regarded in the business community. We are a unique organisation, independent yet partly funded through Dorset’s Local Authorities to ensure quality of our delivery. We maintain close relationships across public and private services, enabling us to signpost our mentored clients appropriately, whether this be to funding opportunities, additional forms of support or other professional services where required.
You have come to the right place if you want to realise your ambitions!
To help you navigate to information and case studies tailored to your stage of business please select one or more of the options below.
Congratulations on making your business idea a reality! Do you want to ensure your business has strong foundations and to grow it sustainably? Support from a Dorset Business Mentor can be the difference between success and failure.
– Federation of Small Business
Your Dorset Business Mentor will help you review and establish your goals and strategy, then help you prioritise and focus on key areas and overcome any teething problems. While you remain in the driving seat your mentor will offer guidance and help you develop the skills you need, signposting you to our own or other skills workshops, funding sources and to the professions when you need legal or other professional advice.
Sustainable, resilient and healthy growth is as relevant to the micro business as the medium sized businesses looking to scale up further. All businesses need to develop or review controls, structure and process, to minimise risk to capital/investment, to engage the right staff and develop a healthy culture.
The need for business owners to develop new skills at speed in the shift to management and leadership can be demanding, while day-to-day issues and the need to make both short and long term decisions can be pressing.
A Dorset Business Mentor offers calm, structured focus, helping to sift and focus on priorities. They offer an opportunity to step back from day-to-day demands; offering guidance, encouragement and giving confidence where and when you need it. Their objective perspective, experience of other ways of doing things, ability to listen and willingness to constructively challenge will be nothing short of invaluable in realising your business potential.
Your business has been operating for some years and may be trading comfortably, with a positive outlook. However, no business can afford to rest on its laurels. There are always new external market, competitive and customer challenges, plus management of internal business issues.
Whatever the challenge a mentor brings a fresh perspective, sparking the conversations and thinking to address these issues and to take your business forward. Inviting a Mentor to come alongside can help you clarify and anticipate these challenges. He/she brings experience, an objective sounding board and guidance to assist you to move forward with purpose. For some businesses, it is simply a process of re-evaluating goals, for others a constructive challenge can lead to an active reassessment and investment in people, product and processes, all for the future benefit of the organisation.
Dorset Business Mentors offer a background of leadership, innovation, and professionalism and carry the reassurance of evidence-based thinking and practical experience.
Business owners often leave the question 'what next?’ until it’s too late to consider all the potential options. It may be planning for retirement or a desire to do something new. But whatever the reason, succession planning or developing an exit strategy requires careful thought and advance planning.
There are always a variety of options open to business owners and understanding these and your priorities are key. Whereas one entrepreneur may want to plan for maximum financial gain, a family owned business may consider succession and healthy family dynamics a priority. Then there is sale to employees, liquidation, selling to co-owners, private equity and more.
A mentor with experience can provide guidance to work through this process and signpost to finding buyers, tax planning, due diligence and more, as required.
Where a business is handed to less experienced management, a mentor offers peace of mind by supporting the transition, providing insight and challenges before, during and after, while the new owner or team develop the necessary skills.
Are confidential, supportive and personable: they listen
Are matched to you personally and will seek to understand your motivators and drivers
Will help you develop an achievable strategy to move from current reality to achieving your goals.
Offer an objective sounding board and provide feedback
Shine a light on possible alternative approaches and solutions
Help you identify, analyse and work through risk and opportunities
Help you develop the skills to act for yourself
Ask questions to challenge you in the interest of your growth
Give advice - they offer guidance and make suggestions
Tell you how to run your business - it is your business and you are always in the driving seat
Make difficult decisions for you - but they will help you work through the decision making process
Wave a magic wand and work miracles
Offer a short term ‘fix’, the benefits of mentoring only increase over time
Are you an experienced businessperson who would like to contribute your knowledge and expertise to our mission to support the growth and resilience of businesses in Dorset? To those we select we offer a professional framework including training, ongoing support and opportunities to meet other mentors and to learn from shared experience. Our Mentors derive great pleasure in their altruism and contributing to our community.
We are always interested to talk to potential mentors. Please complete the following enquiry form and one of our team will respond as soon as possible.
Charity/Social Enterprise
We are keen to support Charities and Social Enterprises in Dorset, building on our successful track record.
Dorset Business Mentors is itself a not-for-profit organisation and operates a hybrid income model to deliver an accessible service. We are familiar with the world of writing grant applications and making sense of funding opportunities, dealing with the interest of stakeholders and attracting and managing volunteers to deliver a service worthy of public accreditation.
This is an enormously rewarding area, with lots of the same challenges and pressure as running a commercial business. You may be wondering how to get the best out of a volunteer workforce, or be concerned about your cash flow. You may be writing a funding bid and need a fresh pair of eyes. As you seek to develop your Charity or Enterprise, look to us for support. We can match you with a mentor who has relevant experience and can help you get the best for your enterprise and your community.