Business Mentoring is a partnership between Scottish Enterprise (the national body charged with aiding business development) and Scottish Chambers of Commerce (the private sector's leading business representative body).

Anyone in business can apply for a mentor.  They can be a business owner, a Director or an upwardly mobile manager (or one who wants to be!).  Two and a half thousand people have participated since the start of the project.  There are special programmes for growing businesses, for women entrepreneurs and for social enterprises.  Mentors are drawn from the full range of experienced business people across all sectors, and there are seven hundred of them currently.  There is no charge for the service and mentors are unpaid.  The idea is that a given business community (in this case Scotland) recognises the value of 'giving something back' and embraces its up and coming entrepeneurs (not always young! But always receptive to life-long learning) by sharing experience.

What Business Mentors don't do:

- Give advice
- Tell people what to do
- Do it for them
- Prattle on about 'in my day...' and what are their magnificent achievements

What Business Mentors  do do:

- Listen really well
- Identify priority issues to which the business person may be too close to see
- Encourage them to think them through
- Offer suggestions for new approaches
- Recommend new contacts

I am a Business Mentor and I also work to promote the programme.

The happy clients and mentors talk about 'perfect sounding board', 'more like a friend than an advisor' (which they never claim to be), and 'I know I did it myself, but I'd didn't have time or experience to think of these changes myself'.

The programme is now being franchised to other countries around the world.

Want to have a Mentor? click here

Want to be a Mentor? click here

Want to replicate the scheme click here

...or ring 0845 609 6622