In my experience, for most people, running a small business is a challenge. In some cases it can push you to your limits – financial, physical health, mental health, relationships, etc. With demands like this, it’s important to use the resources that are available to support you to maximise your success. There are many benefits of mentoring in business.
I run a small business consulting firm. I’m both a small business owner myself, and an advisor / mentor to many other small businesses. At the time of writing, our clients have grown their businesses by 64% in the last 12 months, and I have grown my own business by 58%. Here are some of the things that we do with our clients that lead to these results.
External Perspective
There is an old saying that sometimes it can be hard to see the wood through the trees. Sometimes when I meet with clients, they can be bogged down in the detail of some part of running their business. They may have a Cliente problemático, um membro difícil da equipe ou problemas tecnológicos. Seja qual for o problema, às vezes eles se sentirão bastante negativos sobre seus negócios. Em um caso como esse, tirando a emoção, meu cliente e eu poderemos descobrir uma maneira melhor de lidar com o cliente Problema. Podemos esse 'benchmarking de crescimento'. Com alguma tecnologia legal, podemos mostrar aos nossos clientes como eles se comparam a todos os outros clientes, desempenho médio do cliente, empresas de crescimento rápido do Reino Unido e o Reino Unido como um todo. Os clientes geralmente ficam surpresos e encantados com o desempenho deles, e esse conhecimento pode fornecer um impulso motivacional real. Claro, você tem clientes e clientes que, em última análise, não pagarão se você não entregar, mas provavelmente não conversará com seus clientes sobre se atingir suas metas de vendas ou não, por exemplo. Fazemos isso para criar um senso de prestação de contas e urgência - "Oh, Deus, estou vendo a Hooke & Co. na próxima semana, é melhor eu fazer o X!" Os mentores nos negócios podem realmente acelerar seu planejamento,
As a consultant, I care a great deal about my clients, but I’m not so caught up in the details – for example, I won’t have the same emotional reaction to a problem customer as my client might have. In a case like this, by taking the emotion away, my client and I will be able to work out a better way to deal with the problem customer.
Measuring Performance
A really important part of what we do is measuring our clients’ performance, and showing them how they compare to other businesses. We can this ‘growth benchmarking’.
We measure lots of different aspects of our clients’ performance, in particular changes in their turnover. With some cool technology, we can show our clients how they compare to all our other clients, average client performance, fast growth UK companies and the UK as a whole. Clients are often surprised and delighted at how well they are doing, and this knowledge can provide a real motivational boost.
Accountability
When you’re running a small business, you tend not to have a ‘boss’ that you’re accountable to. Sure, you have customers and clients that ultimately won’t pay you if you fail to deliver, but you probably won’t talk to your customers about whether you’ve hit your sales targets or not, for example.
We meet with our clients face-to-face once per month, and speak to them over the phone half-way through the month. We do this to create a sense of accountability and urgency – “Oh, gosh, I’m seeing Hooke & Co. next week, I better get X done!” Mentors in business can really accelerate your planning,
Os clientes me dizem que, sem uma pessoa externa que os considerava, seria muito fácil para ações importantes deslizarem e tempo para passar sem progresso suficiente. e lidar com agências governamentais como
Experience And Expertise
In my opinion, one of the things that makes running a small business hard is that there is so much to learn – everything from marketing and sales, through to people management, technology, planning, government rules and regulations and dealing with government agencies like HMRC.
É muito fácil queimar muito tempo para descobrir tudo sozinho. O tempo é sem dúvida o seu recurso mais precioso. Você tem que usá -lo com sabedoria. Um mentor ou consultor de negócios pode economizar muito tempo, desde o início, compartilhando como outras pequenas empresas fazem as coisas. A contribuição que eles fazem para o seu negócio dependerá disso. Há muitas pessoas por aí oferecendo conselhos. Algumas das melhores coisas que aprendi passaram a fazer isso sozinho no meu próprio negócio, por exemplo, Desenvolvendo um processo de marketing e vendas e selecionando o software para apoiá -lo. A importância da experiência em primeira mão não deve ser subestimada. Conhecer a teoria é importante, mas o mesmo acontece com o trabalho. Se você gostaria de falar com uma de nossa equipe e começar a experimentar os benefícios da orientação nos negócios, por favor, não hesite em
Finally, it’s important to ensure that the business mentor you work with actually runs a business themselves, ideally their own limited company, rather than a franchise. The contribution that they make to your business will hinge on this. There are a lot of people out there offering advice. Some of the best things I have learned have been through actually doing it myself in my own business, e.g. developing a marketing and sales process, and selecting the software to support it. The importance of first-hand experience should not be underestimated. Knowing the theory is important, but so is learning on the job.
If you think that you might be able to benefit from our services and support then have a browse around our website. If you would like to speak to one of our team and start experiencing the benefits of mentoring in business for yourself then please don’t hesitate to Entre em contato.
