Business mentor

capefear

Hi guys

Has any one here used a business mentor and were they off any benefit to your business.

TIA

tacofries

capefear wrote: »

Hi guys

Has any one here used a business mentor and were they off any benefit to your business.

TIA

I have,. I didn't find it too beneficial to be honest. The person we used made out that they had much more experience than they actually had so this could just be a once off bad experience. We got the mentoring for free and I did learn a small bit from it so it was somewhat helpful just not something that I would be happy paying for. If you are getting a mentor than do some proper background checks/due diligence.

I have also approached successful business people in the past on an informal basis. I found this to be absolutely brilliant and after 20 or 30 minutes talking to them you would walk out the door knowing so much more than when you originally walked in. It was actually amazing how quickly I was able to learn from someone that had already done what I was trying to do. They just cut out all the bull**** and got down to the gritty! 3 of them actually ended up becoming advisors for our company...

pedroeibar1

Have you read this thread?

Buttercake

Seems to be a recurrent disdain of Mentors and business consultants on these forums! Probably best to contact your LEO, you can get a free hour or intro session with one from their mentor list to see if they are any use.

tacofries

Buttercake wrote: »

Seems to be a recurrent disdain of Mentors and business consultants on these forums! Probably best to contact your LEO, you can get a free hour or intro session with one from their mentor list to see if they are any use.

Used them before as well actually and didn't find them great.
Nothing like getting out there and asking people with real experience!

Buttercake

tacofries wrote: »

Used them before as well actually and didn't find them great.
Nothing like getting out there and asking people with real experience!

Same, they arent great, jobs for the lads, some with no up to date experience, still live in the 1990s, might help OP though

sysprogrammer

exactly what tacofries said.

The Leo were a waste of paper pushing , give us your business idea on our template , time and money. Been through it personally.

I have had 2 mentors since from Boards.ie who were invaluable, because they had real world experience and no time for nonsense.

I have to say that the boards mentors wasted no time in cutting through the crap and pointing me in the right directions. Without whom I would surely be out of business.

7 years later, still with no nonsense advice whenever I post here. And I have yet to find a better mentor than on this forum.

Invest in the knowledge available here, and more importantly , implement it without getting offended, is what I am trying to say.

Hammertime and Pedro , thank you again so much for your time , I wouldn't be here, or profitable , without your guidance.

hope this is of help to someone, I really wish a lot of our newer posters had thicker skin when they or their idea take a beating.

Advice is handed out here not for money, but a desire to see success and also prevent some from wasting their time.

Sysprog
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Bandara

sysprogrammer wrote: »

exactly what tacofries said.

The Leo were a waste of paper pushing , give us your business idea on our template , time and money. Been through it personally.

I have had 2 mentors since from Boards.ie who were invaluable, because they had real world experience and no time for nonsense.

I have to say that the boards mentors wasted no time in cutting through the crap and pointing me in the right directions. Without whom I would surely be out of business.

7 years later, still with no nonsense advice whenever I post here. And I have yet to find a better mentor than on this forum.

Invest in the knowledge available here, and more importantly , implement it without getting offended, is what I am trying to say.

Hammertime and Pedro , thank you again so much for your time , I wouldn't be here, or profitable , without your guidance.

hope this is of help to someone, I really wish a lot of our newer posters had thicker skin when they or their idea take a beating.

Advice is handed out here not for money, but a desire to see success and also prevent some from wasting their time.

Sysprog
</endofrant >
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Who's this hammer time person that you speak of ?

Silverbling

I had free sessions as part of someones masters, I did not find it that helpful but joining networking groups was great as they meet up in real life, you would be amazed how much you can learn from a group over a cup of coffee

Whats the background of these mentors? When I think of a mentor I think of someone who's maybe retired after being in business for 40 or 50 years working at a high level and would have a lot to offer.

pedroeibar1

[QUOTE=sysprogrammer;103682912.........


Hammertime and Pedro , thank you again so much for your time ,

......[/QUOTE]

I'm sure that relates to my friend the other Pedro - he who resigned, being fed up with broken promises and the unchanged ancient charter. So on his behal, thanks for the comment, i'd guess he's seen it as he looks in here regularly.:)

sysprogrammer

:-) Very Gracious of you to accept on their behalf.

I believe all 3 of us are now posting under new usernames, it's not too awkward to change.

I still stand by what I say , the best advice I have had personally has been here.

And yes Pedro , this forum does need some updating , this year hopefully.

Rgds,
Sysprog

Buttercake

Deleted User wrote: »

Whats the background of these mentors? When I think of a mentor I think of someone who's maybe retired after being in business for 40 or 50 years working at a high level and would have a lot to offer.

you would think that but anyone that is a success wont bother working for the LEO, its usually the Noels and Billys down the Rugby or Golf Club with nothing to do with themselves

buck65

I worked with a business coach/mentor two years ago. It was a 12 month thing but I still use him at times for advice.

Really good, added alot to our business, did staff training too. Quite up to date stuff re social media and online awareness. Profit margin increased perhaps 1.5% gross since he started, not a coincidince.

I have recommended the guy to many others in my fireld, none have taken him up, usual excuses...they still struggle with the things that he eradicated from our business the first month. - low margin, giving discount where not needed etc.

Digital_Guy

Bandara wrote: »

Who's this hammer time person that you speak of ?

Always enjoyed reading Hammertime's retail advice posts back in the day

gargargar

We had some mentoring from a guy who was assigned from the LEO. Absolute joke. We were starting a web business and the mentor hadn't a clue. This chap was near retirement age and I would have guessed that he didn't use the web much (this was about 10 years ago). It was like talking to some uncle a wedding who you have been stuck sitting beside.

bubbleboy22

I do not really think, that having a business mentor is really necessary and more over profitable. If this person is so good in business, why he/she spends time for helping you and not earning much money?:ermm: To my mind, you'd better hire a good marketing expert which will create and lead great marketing campaigns.

Graham

bubbleboy22 wrote: »

If this person is so good in business, why he/she spends time for helping you and not earning much money?:ermm:

Maybe because they've already made their money and/or retired yet still enjoy being involved and seeing other business do well.

sysprogrammer

in my case it was fairly obvious they had already made their money, and now had decided to 'Give Back' a little by mentoring.

they asked for nothing in return by the way, more so glad to be able to impart advice and see it being put to use.

buck65

bubbleboy22 wrote: »

I do not really think, that having a business mentor is really necessary and more over profitable. If this person is so good in business, why he/she spends time for helping you and not earning much money?:ermm: To my mind, you'd better hire a good marketing expert which will create and lead great marketing campaigns.

Well actually I have evidence to the contrary as I stated above. A measurable effect on our bottom line, staff increased productivity and profits.

You could ask the same about teachers or lecturers, if they know so much why aren't they out there doing it? Some people prefer to teach and help people along the way.

A good mentor will be doing well for themselves too don't forget! Marketing experts are there to help with marketing, a good mentor is there for alot more than that.

mrawkward

As someone who has done a fair bit of mentoring over the years, I would never get involved in the likes of LEO or similar panels.

Many aspiring entrepreneurs are not actually open to suggestions/changes based on prior experience, they see themselves as unique and different... determined to find out the hard way. I let them off and if they do come back chastened, no problem helping out...very rarely happens though!. These guys never seem to get smarter.

A mentor is not a nanny, generally only a few hours initially and then the odd phone call/email or coffee to respond to queries or as a sounding board for new ideas or problems. High maintenance individuals rarely make it, dreamers and wafflers never. A good mentor is a valuable resource and should be utilised similarly to any other precious commodity

There is generally no rocket science just dispassionate common sense involved in helping projects move forward. The whole very Irish "I don't know but I know a guy who does" is generally a huge plus from a good mentor. These attributes are really only possesed by heads who have been around a long time in a real busines environment..wrinkly former entrepreneurs... players not spectators/referees/scorekeepers/retired hired help!

bubbleboy22

buck65 wrote: »

bubbleboy22 wrote: »

I do not really think, that having a business mentor is really necessary and more over profitable. If this person is so good in business, why he/she spends time for helping you and not earning much money?:ermm: To my mind, you'd better hire a good marketing expert which will create and lead great marketing campaigns.

Well actually I have evidence to the contrary as I stated above. A measurable effect on our bottom line, staff increased productivity and profits.

You could ask the same about teachers or lecturers, if they know so much why aren't they out there doing it? Some people prefer to teach and help people along the way.

A good mentor will be doing well for themselves too don't forget! Marketing experts are there to help with marketing, a good mentor is there for alot more than that.

I guess teachers and business mentors are different things. If a teacher does not have practical experience, all his/her teaching is fake and I do not think students have much pleasure while attending these classes. 
Business mentor can be good and has a value, only if he/she has a successful experience in business by his/her own, however, in this case, if he/she is retired, it would be difficult to follow all modern business streams. To my mind, it is better to find a good person in marketing, analytics, etc and get their professional point of you and follow all the pieces of advice

mrawkward

bubbleboy22 wrote: »

I guess teachers and business mentors are different things. If a teacher does not have practical experience, all his/her teaching is fake and I do not think students have much pleasure while attending these classes.
Business mentor can be good and has a value, only if he/she has a successful experience in business by his/her own, however, in this case, if he/she is retired, it would be difficult to follow all modern business streams. To my mind, it is better to find a good person in marketing, analytics, etc and get their professional point of you and follow all the pieces of advice

There is an awful lot more to running a business than just sales and marketing, vital as they are!

Clara B

capefear wrote: »

Hi guys

Has any one here used a business mentor and were they off any benefit to your business.

TIA

I used one provided through DCEB at the time. I had applied for a grant(was in manufacturing) and one of the stipulations was working with a mentor.
We met once a week for a few hours and to be honest at first I thought it was a waste of time. He had no experience in my particular field. However I soon realized that his vast knowledge of business in general was amazing. We worked on a business plan and he gave me a lot of direction. He had varied knowledge of manufacturing and although not in my field a lot of what he knew was applicable to me.
I am sure there are plenty of bad ones out there and I got lucky-but if he had not been provided free of charge by DCEB I would have paid for his services.