One of my favourite quotes of all time says that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” While we don’t know who first said it, it perfectly encapsulates my philosophy about the coaching relationship. If you’re not ready to learn, even the best teacher won’t be able to help you. This also applies to business mentoring.
Life is all about embracing new knowledge and opportunities. Take it from me: I started as an electrician in the automotive industry. A couple years later, I was working corporate. Now I’m a business coach as well as an author!
I would never have reached this point if I hadn’t been open to opportunities and my mentors along the way.
It might be a cliche, but that doesn’t make it any less true. And when it comes to growing your business, the same rule applies.
If you’ve been running your business without a plan, a business mentor can help you get your trade back on track. Business mentoring is the perfect opportunity for business owners to get a second opinion.
Coaching vs Mentoring: Is there any difference?
While it may sound similar to coaching, mentoring is very different.
Unlike coaching, mentoring is more reactive. As a mentor, I won’t teach or guide you towards your goal. My role is to offer advice and suggestions to keep you on track. Our meetings are less frequent. My advice is less sweeping, and our relationship becomes more about keeping you on track.
Mentoring is also a bit more hands-off. That means it requires a different mindset to get the most out of the mentoring relationship.
The mentoring relationship is a two-way street – don’t expect your business mentor to simply spoon feed you everything.
As a mentor, I can’t force you to change anything. As the business owner, you need to be the driving force. That includes listening to advice and making changes, even if you don’t like others telling you what to do.
If you’re serious about getting more time and money to live your dream life, YOU, need to be completely on board. Otherwise, it’s very likely that we won’t get far with your business.
To make the mentor-mentee relationship work, it has to be a mutual relationship. To achieve this, I will need you to do the following.
Knowing your role as a business mentee
I make it pretty clear from the beginning that I put a LOT of emphasis on whether I like YOU personally.
While it may come across as strange, it’s actually the most important part of our relationship. When working with a business mentor such as myself, think of it as a dance. We both need to be dancing to the same tune. Otherwise, the performance will fail.
How well you and I like each other shapes our ability to establish rapport. It will also help develop an understanding of each other.
Since all my advice is built on how well I understand you, your business and your goals, it goes without saying that this step is crucial!
The other reason building a personal connection is important is that it influences how open you (the business owner) are to my advice.
As a business mentor, I will help you grow your business, look over your plans and most importantly, keep you on track for a healthy business.
Ideally, the mentee needs to:
Listen actively
Even the best advice means nothing if it isn’t listened to.
During our business mentoring sessions, I will listen to your plans and advise you on whether they’re helping you reach your goals.
Ultimately, the responsibility for creating goals and reaching them in a mentoring relationship is on YOU.
Be introspective
I have a reputation for being blunt. As a business owner coach, I sometimes find that I need to be.
I carry this over to my business mentoring role, too. There’s a reason I put this forward so often: I need you to look at your business with a critical eye. If I point out something that needs changing or plain won’t work, I need you to listen to these. Instead of taking it as a personal insult, think about my words.
Be open about your business and dreams
I can’t provide guidance if I don’t know what you want out of your business.
As a business owner coach and Melbourne business mentor, my end goal is to help you achieve your dream lifestyle. Of course, that requires that you be open about your dreams and where your business sits. Don’t sugarcoat things. If your business is performing poorly or you feel like it’s draining you, your business mentor needs to know.
Accept the challenges
As your mentor, I won’t hold your hand, unlike in a coaching relationship, That means the planning, goal-setting, and motivation is all on you, the owner.
This may cause some anxiety in the beginning. However, getting out of your comfort zone will help you and your business in the long run.
If you’re ready to step up to the plate, that will be fantastic! If not, you might need a more active, hands-on approach, however. In cases like this, I advise a coaching relationship rather than a mentoring one.
Don’t forget to ask questions
Sometimes, things just won’t make sense. And if something is unclear to you when it comes to business coaching, don’t hesitate to ask your business coach the important questions.
Like I said, the mentoring relationship is give and take.
I can’t dictate what you need to do. And if you want to question my suggestions, feel free to do so. I am more than ready to answer pertinent questions.
Know the role of your business mentor
Every business mentor is different. And when it comes to business mentoring, I am proud to say that I also have my own approach.
For me, I believe in doing whatever it takes to achieve your dream lifestyle. It doesn’t matter if it’s travelling the world, early retirement, or collecting stamps.
And I believe the way towards that is by optimising your business to get you as much time and money you need to live that life. To me, your business is a means to an end.
Improving your business isn’t just about improving your numbers. It’s about getting you one step closer to where you want to be. Because of that, every suggestion I make is geared towards achieving your dream lifestyle.
That said, it’s not me that puts these plans into action. While I help chart a course, I can’t do everything for you – this is a collaborative effort and you have the ultimate responsibility to help yourself.
I will be here to assist you in setting goals and plans to achieve them. However, you have to make sure you have the right focus and dedication to execute these in real life.
Your business mentor looks at:
The big picture
My goal is to help you achieve your dream lifestyle. Needless to say, it’s a tad difficult to do this unless I understand what you want to do with your life and where your business fits in the picture.
The blood and guts
You can’t live your life without time and money. So what can we change in your business to get you that time and money?
When I look under the hood of your business, I believe that nothing is above reproach. Your budget, costs, systems and processes, staff, efficiency and most importantly, YOU – if any of these need to be changed, I will.
The plan
Even the best ideas are useless without a plan for putting them into action. The plan we put together for you will depend on your goals, how much money you need to reach them and your timeframe.
Make time, make money with the right business mentoring. Call Bruce Frame – one of the top business mentors in Melbourne now!
Being a business owner can often be challenging and difficult, to say the least. It’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed with work. Far too many business owners are unhappy with how much time they spend working and how little goes towards themselves – trust me, I know the feeling.
If you feel short on time, money or just don’t feel like the role your business plays in your life, get in touch with me. Call today, and I’ll help you get your business working for you instead of the other way around.
