Group Mentoring Sessions are “the board you can’t afford”
- Trusted Business Colleagues who discuss YOUR issue
- New commercial and professional insights
- Fresh realisation about your business through others’ eyes
If you are the owner of a small medium sized enterprise (SME) and looking for improved profitability, a feeling of more control or possibly renewed focus and direction, then Group Mentoring could be for you.
It does not matter if you are well-established or a “start-up” or what industry sector you are in, there is a good chance you would benefit from these sessions.
The Group (eight to twelve SME owners) meets every other month on a Monday at the Richmond Adult Community College from 5pm to 6.30pm. Each month there is a theme to the session – so: 30th January (Planning), 27th March (How to Be Lucky in Business) 26th June (Motivating Staff), 25th September (Finance), 30th October (Marketing), and 27th November (Risk Analysis).
At each session, each SME owner has the chance to discuss the challenges in their business – and by exchanging ideas, solutions can normally be found (a problem shared is a problem halved). From March onwards, there will be a guest speakers, who will talk about his or her experiences running a SME.
The Group Mentoring sessions are taken by Norman Jackson, who has worked with over 1,000 SMEs over the last thirty years. To book a place, go the Events Section of the Chamber’s website and scroll down to Group Mentoring.
Richmond Chamber of Commerce Group Mentoring Sessions by Norman Jackson
When I set up in business in Richmond thirty years ago, I relied on Mark Twain’s two ingredients for business success – namely ignorance and confidence. I made many mistakes, was not particularly focused and in retrospect I was lucky to have survived.
At that time, I had never heard of the word “Mentor” – and I’m sure if I had had one, my decision making would have been far better and I would have avoided getting involved in some rather dubious business transactions.
Some pundits say business is easy – you just prepare a plan and implement it. As you know this is not exactly true – but these sessions do make a business easier to run by making SME owners continually think about their plans and through peer pressure helping them take appropriate actions, whilst avoiding that terrible disease – procrastination.
For me, two of the major benefits of group mentoring come outside the formal sessions. Firstly, after each get-together, we gravitate to a local hostelry for some refreshments – and in an informal manner more business ideas and anecdotes can be exchanged.
Secondly, each attendee can benefit from the contacts within the group, For example, if each SME owner has on average 100 good contacts, then with ten SME owners in attendance, that’s 1,000 contacts that could help your business.
As the old adage says “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know!”
Onwards & Upwards and Whatever It Takes – Norman Jackson
Group Mentoring Testimonials
“Inspiring & thought-provoking – Norman has the uncanny ability to assess and understand the strengths and weaknesses of any SME. Having enrolled on the RCC (Richmond Chamber of Commerce) Personal Mentoring scheme, it was clear that Norman has vast experience in business, but also the ability to communicate that experience to young entrepreneurs in a way that can have an immediately positive influence on their business (and bottom line!) From SWOT analysis to deep philosophy, Norman will not offer you the solution to your business problems on a plate, but will challenge you to come up with the solution yourself; a significantly more valuable gift. Definitely not your typical finance man, Norman is a creative, humorous, analytically minded strategist who has the power to unlock the potential in business leaders of the future.” Adam Knight, Wings Swim School