Finding the right business mentor can prove the key to success.
Countless books have been written, and vast research conducted, about what makes a business successful.
As Chartered Accountants we have the opportunity over the course of our careers to meet, and become involved with, a great number and variety of businesses which allows us to gain our own insight into what makes some businesses succeed rather than others.
We can recognise the characteristics of highly successful businesses. They operate in a culture of continuous improvement – a constant cycle of implementing, monitoring and upgrading their systems and procedures. They have formal strategic plans that involve and empower their staff, and key performance measures to monitor their progress. They have formal policies for attracting, developing and rewarding their staff in a culture that engenders team work and a sense of belonging; that rewards achievement and deals with poor performance objectively and constructively. Successful businesses are constantly innovating products and processes and they own and protect the intellectual property they develop. They have an intimate knowledge of their market, customers and competitors and their strategies flow from a clear understanding of the needs of their customers. They can identify opportunities and implement partnering arrangements with other businesses to realise a win/win result. The owners of these businesses know where they are going – the road ahead, at least for around 5 years, is clear to them and they have established the milestones that need to be reached in order to get there. These are the businesses that will be able to maximize growth and profits.
But highly successful businesses don't develop as a matter of course. It takes a lot of energy, determination, focus, skill and knowledge. So how can the owner of a small business, bogged down with the everyday necessities of producing the product, delivering the service and dealing with a mountain of paperwork, every hope to make it?
In my experience the owners of successful businesses have their own characteristics. Generally they are driven to achieve; they care passionately about the business and are prepared to undertake as much personal development and training as necessary on order to succeed.
But even these people can't go from being the service providers/salespeople/producers to highly effective managing directors overnight. Generally it is a gradual process whereby most of the operational functions are delegated over time to others while the business owner evolves into a skilled manager. People who have done this have typically attended every business course available and read every book on business management. But one of the most powerful factors I see with business people who have grown their businesses from micro to large is that the owner has had a great business mentor. Sometimes this is a structured arrangement, as in organisations such as The Executive Connection or The CEO Syndicate. Sometimes it is a private arrangement with a successful person who has long experience in business and a deep understanding of the industry.
The mentor is the sounding board, the purveyor of knowledge and wisdom; the shoulder to cry on, and the audience for venting frustrations that the staff should never witness. This person typically has managed successful businesses – understands their characteristics, knows the risks and how to protect against them. He/she has lived through the cycle of recessions, soaring interest rates, credit crunches, exchange rate volatility, inflation and tight labour markets, and has seen how to survive them.
Having a mentor not only addresses the ‘it's lonely at the top' syndrome but can bring much needed skills to the business and a perspective that is denied someone who works in the business every day. It is very difficult to have an objective perspective of your own business; like your children it is easy to see the good points but you can be blind to the faults and have no idea how to rectify them Finding a good mentor is a good first step along the road to business success, and does not involve a prohibitive amount time or cost.
However it is vital to match the right mentor to a particular business and its owner, in terms of knowledge, experience, values and personality. We, as Chartered Accountants, with broad business experience and wide networks, are in an ideal position to identify the need of a business owner for a mentor and help in locating the right person. It is tempting to put ourselves forward for that role, and indeed that may sometimes be the correct solution, but we need to be objective. These days, with shorter product and business life cycles, businesses have a very limited time in which to realise their potential. Giving a business owner the wrong mentor may mean that potential is never fully realised, and that's not a responsibility to be taken lightly, but finding the right mentor may just be the key to business success.