MAG Business Mentoring

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to discuss a new business idea and learn from other’s mistakes? A problem shared is a problem halved, after all. Mentors are willing to share their hard-earned experience to help you take your business forward.

The MAG Business Mentoring program makes all this possible, actively bringing successful business people into contact with growing businesses every day

What is a Mentor?

A mentor is someone who can act as a sounding board for your ideas and plans. They bring their own unique experience of life and business and are willing to share their skills and know how and their contacts with you and other people in your business.

We select people who we know will have the experience and knowledge growing businesses look for. Most importantly, they’ll have the generosity of spirit to share their hard-earned knowledge and experience, and they’ll have the communication skills that are a mentor’s trademark.

Having a business mentor can help you to focus, to look at your business from a distance and remember what your original goals and plans were. Often this is all that is needed to identify strategies and opportunities for growth. And possibly the greatest benefit - it can give you the confidence you need to go forward with these plans.

How it works

The MAG Business Mentoring program offers the skills and experience of people who have proven themselves to be successful in business. There is a three-phase approach:

Phase One: Free Initial Diagnostic

This initial diagnostic helps to identify business needs to match clients and mentors according to the type of experience and knowledge needed by the client. We won’t take up much of your time - and it could prove to be some of the most valuable time you’ve spent on behalf of your business.

We take care not to match competitive businesses, and we encourage a non-directive approach from mentors. Once the relationship is established, the company and the mentor will be asked to enter into a confidentiality agreement, to protect the interests of both parties.

Phase Two: Free Assistance in Developing your Business Strategy

This phase includes up to 6 days of mentoring support to undergo a thorough business diagnostic and help you develop an action plan to take the business forward. This stage can be scheduled over a period of up to three months to suit your business. This lays the foundation for identifying your needs to fulfil your business strategy and vision to compete in the market place.

The action plan is then presented to the MAG by the mentor and client for approval before moving onto phase three.

Phase Three: Implementing Change (currently up to 57% funded)

This phase includes up to 20 days of mentoring support to facilitate implementation of the action plan developed in phase two. Mentors usually commit to between one and three days per month, but this varies in each case. The length of time a mentoring relationship lasts also varies - on average it’s nine months.

Mentors do not take the place of existing professional advisers, but they do offer expertise and specific advice in all areas of business management.

Throughout the mentoring process we’ll be available to discuss issues with you and direct you to other means of advice and support within the network. We’ll call you from time to time to check things are going well – this constitutes part of our monitoring requirements.