Mentors

Every entrepreneur and new business should have a mentor — someone who's been down that road before and can share their wisdom on an ongoing basis. The clients of HCBI will face the same challenges as countless other new businesses. Mentors can make an important contribution to their success.

A great mentor will become not only an advisor, but likely your friend and confidante, as well. That doesn't happen instantly, though. Building trust and personal interest takes time. It’s important for the client to set the tone at the outset of the relationship by demonstrating a commitment to the process.

The mentor can help to identify the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities available to the business.  A mentor can help with the “big picture”, direct the focus to the key issues facing the business, and provide aid in achieving goals.

Benefits to the client would include:

• Opportunity to increase skills, knowledge and confidence
• Increased potential for business visibility, promotional or networking opportunities
• Insights into the “unwritten” rules of business
• A supportive environment in which successes and failures can be evaluated
• Development of professionalism and self-confidence as a business owner through enhancing personal and professional effectiveness
• Recognition, satisfaction and empowerment as a business owner
• Manage stress and pressure of entrepreneurship more effectively
• Learn to better manage working with increased levels of uncertainty and complexity.

A mentoring schedule will be established in which the client would attend a mentoring session on a monthly or bi-weekly basis, which may be a group mentoring event or on an individual basis according to the need.  Mentoring sessions would run about two hours in a regularly designated meeting place.

Mentoring professional services can provide valuable insights in the following areas:

• Strategic planning
• Company structuring (excluding legal advice)
• Marketing and communication
• Graphic design
• Corporate and product logo / identity development, branding
• Website design and development
• E-commerce
• Sales strategy
• Accounting (excluding tax advice)
• Partnering

The Rotary Club of Haliburton is a partner in the mentoring portion of our program.  A number of retired senior executives in the county have also indicated an interest in supporting the program.  Industry specific mentoring would be resourced, as needed, for clients requiring this type of specific support.