Business Mentoring Services

One-on-one support from real business people

Mentors are empathetic and experienced business people who help business owners achieve their goals.  They have experience operating and developing successful businesses and can offer valuable advice and guidance.

What are the benefits of using a mentor?

Help you step back from your business
A mentor can help you look at the “big picture”, and may identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that you may have overlooked.

Be a sounding board
A key role of a mentor is to listen, stimulate and challenge your thinking.  This may help you develop your own ideas and arrive at your own solutions to your business challenges.

Offer guidance during a growth phase
A successful, growing business brings new challenges such as hiring new staff, raising new capital and entering new markets.  A mentor can offer helpful advice, caution against potential pitfalls and instil confidence in your plans.

Leverage their business networks
A mentor may be able to put you in touch with key business people and customers within your industry, as well as other professional. Mentors are coaches, not consultants, and do not take the place of accountants, lawyers or bank managers.

Provide accountability to someone
Having a mentor won’t automatically fix all your business challenges. It takes time and effort to implement changes.  A mentor can help you set goals and milestones as well make you accountable for delivering on them.

Success Stories

Mentor shares business recipe to make cake shop a success

Some people scoffed when Trish Rodwell said she was setting up business in the small rural town of Woodville – but they obviously didn’t realise how far people would travel for cheesecake.

Mentor helps Auckland business climb stairway to growth

Warwick Kendon was a successful, self-made businessman in his mid 50s when he realised he needed help. So he engaged the services of a corporate mentor, who led his attic storage business through a process of best practice that has cleared the way for annual growth of 32 percent in recent years.

Where can I find a mentor?

Business.govt.nz
There are a number of consultants in New Zealand that offer business mentoring services. Business.govt.nz provides details about these, as well as more information about mentoring in general.

In addition, the following organisations have business mentor programs that can help match you with a mentor most suited for your business and situation.

• Business Mentors New Zealand
  Business Mentors New Zealand delivers a business mentoring programme that is partly funded by NZTE. More than 1400 volunteer mentors offer an extensive range of business knowledge, skills and experience.
• Te Puni Kōkiri
  Te Puni Kōkiri offers information and services to assist with developing and strengthening capacity within Māori communities. Its Business Facilitation Service (BFS) is a free service for Māori interested in starting up a business or wanting to improve an existing business.
• Institute of Accredited Business Consultants (NZ)
  The institute provides leadership in the professional development and accreditation of business consultants Their accredited mentors have been through a rigorous evaluation and approval process.

Is there finacial assistance available to employ a mentor?

Funding is available through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s Enterprise Development Grant for Capability Building (EDG-CB) programme to employ mentors, get specialist advice or engage a small business advisory board.

NZTE supports Business Mentors New Zealand with funding to help them deliver mentoring to business people throughout New Zealand. Their programmes are available from volunteer mentors with proven business skills and experience.