Where to find small business coaching / mentoring?

[Hannah Tech]

Hi,

I run a small business which has achieved growth year on year but I'm struggling to find a way to increase growth to more than a couple of percent.

I really feel I could benefit from someone either looking at my business plan with me and coaching accordingly or some form of mentoring. Part of my plan is to apply for some funding in the form of a loan to allow me to service a contract I've just won but I'm stumped as to whether I need to be looking for a loan or use an overdraft etc having not needed the facility before so ideally need to find someone who has experience with scaling up a small business.

I've been searching on the net but have only found franchise type coaching locally which is typically around £1 - 2000 per month. This is a bit steep for me at the moment and I'm not sure a franchise offering a generic package is going to be of much help.

Can anyone recommend a way to find some sort of support? I'm not sure if I'm looking for something that doesn't exist or if I'm just looking in the wrong place.

 

[Co J]

Hi,

I run a small business which has achieved growth year on year but I'm struggling to find a way to increase growth to more than a couple of percent.

I really feel I could benefit from someone either looking at my business plan with me and coaching accordingly or some form of mentoring. Part of my plan is to apply for some funding in the form of a loan to allow me to service a contract I've just won but I'm stumped as to whether I need to be looking for a loan or use an overdraft etc having not needed the facility before so ideally need to find someone who has experience with scaling up a small business.

I've been searching on the net but have only found franchise type coaching locally which is typically around £1 - 2000 per month. This is a bit steep for me at the moment and I'm not sure a franchise offering a generic package is going to be of much help.

Can anyone recommend a way to find some sort of support? I'm not sure if I'm looking for something that doesn't exist or if I'm just looking in the wrong place.

Hi Hannah,
Where are you based? and how long have you been trading?

 

[Hannah Tech]

Hi, we're in the South East and have been trading for 4 years.

 

[Co J]

Hi, have tried you local council they normally have free business workshops and advisors on hand to help, with that said have you got a current business plan ? and it would also be great if you had a business plan from when you started your business with sales projections, this would really help to reflex the positive growth that you have had.

 

[Breffni Potter]

I would encourage you to look again at those franchise groups, one good one is Icon Business Solutions.

They do offer free seminars which are two hours and cover some really good foundations in business, the events are free and the payment is they get to pitch you how Icon works but much of the content is relevant to many types of businesses and give a good overview.

Buckinghamshire has this group: "Bucks Business First" - Can you find similar in your county?

As you already have the client and are in a rush. I am very confident finding a coach at short notice will be difficult.

Can you secure a deposit from the client to cover base costs even if you make no profit initially?

 

[KellyBDE]

Hi Hannah,

I know a business coach and can provide his details if you should want them.

What is your business? Are you trading B2B and if so have you considered invoice finance? If you would like to discuss any of these further please feel free to pm me.

Kind Regards

Kelly

 

[Ian J]

Part of my plan is to apply for some funding in the form of a loan to allow me to service a contract I've just won but I'm stumped as to whether I need to be looking for a loan or use an overdraft etc.

Many businesses in your industry use some form of invoice finance to fund their growth.

If you haven't come across invoice finance before have a look at my website what is factoring for an explanation and if you think it may help please feel free to give me a buzz and I'll happily go through the various options for you

 

[billmccallum1957]

Hi Hannah

I'm not sure that a generic coaching outfit or mentoring service is what you need.

You are in a pretty niche industry and what you need is dependant on what you are doing and what you want to achieve.

If you are dealing with end users your marketing strategy is to engage those potential customers, but if you are dealing with contractors as part of an overall work programme delivered by them, your marketing strategy needs to reflect that aspect.

Some elements might be achieved by joining the BCF https://www.coatings.org.uk/
They do have a range of services that my suit your needs https://www.coatings.org.uk/member-offers.aspx

or attending trade events such as https://10times.com/surfex-birmingham

Ideally, you need someone with sector experience, rather than general business experience.

 

[Hannah Tech]

Oh wow, thank you so much all for replying, it's all helpful stuff.

I'll try to answer all questions, forgive me if I miss anything....

I do have a current business plan and I can show the P&L for each trading year with increasing turnover for each year. I did try investing in a couple of part time sales staff to grow the business but it was a bit of a disaster. Lots of time invested in training and a small office and no return as the staff fell out with each other (literally over a couple of days) and both left. I don't have the confidence to try that process again at the moment.

I'm not too sure about invoice financing, I have a couple of peers who have used it and they are not in a great position now. It seemed that they were losing their profit and the actual costs were higher in each case than the inital quotes. My accountant is pushing me towards a loan with fixed payments and the APR does look to be cheaper that way.

I've looked at local business groups but as bill has said, my business is pretty niche and the groups are mostly I.T, H.R and recruitment base networks.
I do organise "lunch and learn" events with groups of clients where I hire a room and provide a buffet lunch and do CPD stuff with them which does generate some new business. I also spend a couple of days each week on the road doing sales acitvities such as planned meetings and cold calls in between.

Completely agree I need someone with sector experience, I'll have a look at those links now, thank you.
However, I also think I need to someone to actually look over my business plan and the financials and give me a heads up whether I'm heading in the right direction.

 

[David J Williams]

Hi Hannah, I am assuming your accountant is unable to help and given your comments, I think this is something I can help with or at least point you in the right direction - I can work in conjunction with your current accountants if needed and I am happy to give you a free 20 mins or so chat on the telephone first to see if what I do is appropriate for you - Rgds - David

 

[makeyourbusinessbetter]

Hi Hannah,

have you tried the Hertfordshire Growth Hub? Please see link below,

https://www.hertsgrowthhub.com/about-us

They sound like the sort of people who can help you or be able to put you in touch with someone who can. Hope this helps.

Good luck.

Gordon

 

[Hannah Tech]

Hi Gordon,

many thanks for your reply, that link looks fantastic but unfortunately you have to employ at least 5 people so I don't meet their criteria. This is part of the issue I'm having, I want to grow and do employ people on a freelance / sub-contractor basis but that doesn't count as it's not direct employed yet I can't get the support to move to that next level. Frustrating!

HI David,

thank you for the offer, much appreciated. My current accountant is probably going to change fairly soon as there are a couple of issues there. Once I know what I am doing on that score I'll come back to you.

 

[Stas Lawicki]

Morning Hannah,

I would be happy to have a chat with you and see if I can steer you in the right direction - I mentor and coach business leaders and managers. In the first instance, I am happy to have a general chat FOC and with no obligation. It may be I cannot help, in which case I shall let you know and see if I can pass you on to somebody who can/make another recommendation.

PM me and I shall share my contact details.

Regards
Stas

 

[tealmsa]

Hi Hannah, I went on the Entrepreneurial Spark programme (think it's now the Natwest Business Accelerator) and found it really helpful, and I got the mentoring etc I needed from that.

I'm not in it now, but if you look them up they have them across the country.

Also, the Business Growth Hub usually offer free support.

I'm not sure I could help with financing specifically, but I've run my own business (content creation) for 5 years now, so if you just wanted to bounce ideas off someone (who isn't a paid for mentor, just a fellow business person) and vice versa then let me know.

Thanks
Carrie

 

[Lightningbird]

Hi Hannah

My husband did a course with London Business Coaching (I did it too but wasn't a business owner so focused only on sone aspects of it). The coach was Parag Prasad, I thought he was really and very personable. It costs around £600 a month for 6 months, so not that much cheaper than some of the options youve looked at, but they used to give you one free session to see if you would like it. If you want, I can introduce you to Parag.

Andrea

 

[Annoying Donkey]

Wrong Thread...!

 

[Hannah Tech]

Hi Hannah, I went on the Entrepreneurial Spark programme (think it's now the Natwest Business Accelerator) and found it really helpful, and I got the mentoring etc I needed from that.

I'm not in it now, but if you look them up they have them across the country.

Also, the Business Growth Hub usually offer free support.

I'm not sure I could help with financing specifically, but I've run my own business (content creation) for 5 years now, so if you just wanted to bounce ideas off someone (who isn't a paid for mentor, just a fellow business person) and vice versa then let me know.

Thanks
Carrie

Thanks Carrie I did look at the Natwest programme but they aren't running it at the moment even though they are still advertising it.

I've managed to book a session with a mentor who helped me sort out the initial finance when I started the business in 2014 so i'm going to see what happens there, I'll let you all know how I get on.
And thank you again everyone for replying, it's been really helpful.

 

[Jean Moncrieff]

Morning Hannah,

It sounds like you've hit a ceiling and you're struggling to break through to the next level. I know the feeling, I've been there. No matter what you try, you never seem to get any traction.

I've had 20 odd years experience founding, scaling and running my own businesses. Now I help entrepreneurs get what they want from their companies. I'd be happy to have a conversation with you about your business and share any insights I can offer. And, if you think I can help in the longer term, we can discuss a coaching/mentoring arrangement to suit your needs. If nothing else, I love talking to fellow entrepreneurs about their businesses.

Feel free to drop me a message and I'll share my contact details.

Regards
Jean

 

[Eliza Maum]

It`s very important for everyone.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Where to find small business coaching / mentoring?

On here you will only get the truth on here

This business coach if he is so good why is he not making the cheddar running his own high profit business

 

[Gecko001]

The following is a humorous thread on mentoring with also some good advice:

https://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/...mentor-get-so-screwed-up.384014/#post-2816705