What is mentoring?

Whether you're starting up, taking your business to the next level or just need a sounding board, a business mentor can offer you the support and guidance you need to develop your business.

How mentoring can help your business.

Independent, trained mentors can provide unbiased, friendly support in areas such as international trade, sustainability and marketing - as well as in financial matters.

Mentoring has helped thousands of businesses reach their specific goals:

• 95% of people found working with a mentor to be good for their confidence and motivation to succeed
• Start-ups have a 1 in 4 better chance of surviving and thriving over three years if they have a mentor
• 87% of people said that they were more likely to continue in business over the longer term after their experience with mentoring

Source: BVM report

How we're helping.

Companies across the UK have pledged people and time to help mentor small and medium-sized enterprises.

At Lloyds TSB we've pledged 20,000 hours of our time and more trained volunteers than any other organisation*. We also have an exceptional breadth of mentors from across the company - from senior management to specialist finance departments.

What help can you expect from your mentor?

A business mentor normally has extensive business experience or is knowledgeable in a particular business area, such as finance or marketing. A mentor will act as a trusted confidant over a flexible period of time.

If you are thinking of finding a business mentor, you should be clear on what you can expect from them.

Your mentor will:

• Offer an outside perspective on both you and your business.
• Listen, in confidence, to any concerns about your business.
• Help you by sharing their own experience of both failure and success.
• Give friendly, unbiased support and guidance, as well as honest and constructive feedback.
• Act as a sounding board for ideas.
• Help you with decision-making by suggesting alternatives based on personal experience.
• Provide contacts and networks to further your personal and business development.
• Offer ongoing support and encouragement.

Your mentor will not:

• Give specific technical business guidance, which you'd normally get from an expert business adviser.
• Take responsibility for the success of the business away from you, the business owner.
• Provide a training service
• Act as a counselling service.

mentorsme.

mentorsme is a free, online service that can put you in touch with quality-assured, independent business mentoring organisations across the UK.

1. Enter your location and business's stage of development on the mentorsme website, choose a mentoring organisation from the list and get in touch.
2. Your chosen organisation will discuss your needs with you and find the right mentor from their extensive network, which includes Lloyds TSB mentors.
3. Once you've been assigned a mentor, how you use them is up to you:
   • Your mentor can be available for as much as one day a month and can continue to give you support for up to a year.
   • Meetings can be face to face, over the phone or by email - depending on what you need and what works best for you.

Whatever your business needs, your mentor's main goal is to build a lasting, trusted relationship in order to help you start, run or grow your business successfully.

Find out more at mentorsme

*Correct as of 2nd May 2012

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