As a owner, whether in a start-up business, or in a more established venture, there are times when you need to talk through worries or concerns, or even brainstorm ideas about the important choices you need to make to sustain and grow your business. Business mentoring is a confidential one-to-one relationship where you can use a more experienced business person as a sounding board and for guidance. Most mentors have business experience at senior levels and mentors are often vetted before being allowed to work with a mentee.

There are many sources of help so we’ll explore some of these below.

Business Wales Mentoring offers a coordinated voluntary business mentoring service in Wales. It provides a platform to enable Welsh businesses to engage on a business to business basis, sharing expertise and promoting business growth.

https://business.wales.gov.uk/growing-business/welsh-government-support-1/mentoring

PRIME Cymru is dedicated to helping people aged 50 and over in Wales remain or become economically active by providing ongoing support for older people who wish to develop and establish a business idea. Their mentors are mature, trained people who volunteer their time and expertise to help people achieve their goals. All services are provided free of charge to any individual seeking assistance.

https://www.primecymru.co.uk

The Business Advice Group Ltd have over 200 specialist mentors and they work to improve the performance and profitability of small and medium sized companies throughout England and Wales. Details of the services offered are included below:

https://ibd-uk.com/

The Princes Trust offers a variety of support for young people. The role of the mentor is described in more detail through the link below.

https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/support_us/volunteer/volunteer_roles/progression_mentor.aspx

WISER Mentoring aims to support women-led businesses to share support, advice, hints and practical know-how to woman-led businesses in Wales become established, consolidate and grow.

https://www.wavewales.co.uk/wiser-mentoring/

The next two sites, South Wales Business Mentoring and Association of Business Mentors offers a matching service for both mentors and mentees.

https://www.syob.net/uk/mentoring/South-Wales

https://www.associationofbusinessmentors.org/

Once approved, mentor profiles are loaded onto the website and are then matched to the business owner looking for help in any aspect of business within a specific industry sector. The sites contain contact details to offer further information.

So, if you have a gap in your knowledge or experience, then mentoring could work very well for you. Your mentor will be a role model to share experiences and will help you develop your potential. Don’t be confused with business coaching; that is the subject we will explore next week.