We’re at the half way point in our pilot mentoring programme and will soon be sharing achievements and feedback so far from the 12 businesses being supported.
Our first social event took place on Monday 18th March at The Guild in Carlisle and it was great to hear from both mentors and mentees about their journeys so far and the amount of work that’s taken place.
One mentee has already gone from supplying one wholesaler to 9, won the Mitie Business Boost, grown from a one man band to team of five and secured keys to her first commercial unit.
As the pilot programme ends in June we’re now looking for the next 12-14 businesses wanting to access support and work with a mentor for six months.
If you’re interested please email Lesley Robinson –lesleyr@cumbriachamber.co.uk with the following information:
- Confirmation you can commit to six meetings, one a month July to December
- What you are looking to achieve by working with a mentor
- Your key objectives to achieve by June 2025
The role of a mentor is to encourage the personal and professional development of their mentee by sharing their knowledge, expertise and experience. The mentoring relationship is built on mutual trust, respect and communication. It involves both parties, meeting regularly to exchange ideas, discuss progress and set SMART goals for further development.
A mentor is a sounding board, a critical friend who provides ongoing, personalised guidance, is non-judgmental, supportive, challenging, a catalyst for ideas and a confidant – they have your interests at heart and will provide a safe, confidential space for you to talk about your business, giving you time to think about your business rather than always fighting fires within the business. Working with a mentor also takes away the isolation many small business owners feel and gives you the support needed to move your business onto the next level.
When matching mentors and mentees, mentors are given information about all mentees, they then select who they wish to work with based on their areas of interest/specialism and where they feel they can add the most value. There’s then an initial discovery session to check the match is the right fit for both parties.
There will be a charge of £825 +VAT for the mentoring programme– payment options are available.
We’ve strengthened our team of mentors further by recruiting a further two mentors, taking our highly qualified and experienced team to 7 – you can view mentor profiles here
It would be great to hear from those businesses who wish to move to the next level – we support any business regardless of size and sector based in Cumbria.