Why do you need a Coach or Mentor in the Start-Up Stages of your Business?

 

The answer may be that you don’t. In my early days as a business owner, I didn’t. do I wish I had? Absolutely. Why? Because the amount I have paid in school fees as a result is staggering. I have had to learn everything I know by bumping my head. Over and over again. Why? Because consultants are expensive! I cant afford to pay somebody that kind of money!

 

But the truth is, that even two sessions with a coach who owns their own business, or who specialises in this, is absolutely invaluable.

 

We all think that our business are unique. Nobody else has a business quite like ours. Our issues are different. Our needs are unlike anybody else’s. Guess what? The business that sells diamonds and the business that services cars has EXACTLY the same intrinsic needs. The business that sells vetkoeks on the corner and the butchery, have the same deliverables in terms of tax, in terms of legislation, in terms of staff.

 

Find a coach that resonates with you. Somebody who gets your personality, and that you feel that you click with. Don’t waste time on Google. Use a search engine like Bark, or ask your friends for referrals. Remember that a coach is not a one size fits all. There are different coaches for different things. Weight loss specialists, business coaches, relationship coaches, financial coaches. Explore their rates. Talk to them about outputs and deliverables, and get going.

 

Do not wait to learn these lessons yourself, they will put you back years. Do not listen to your neighbours, best friends or lovers. Get a professional and get a plan.

Share a mentee success story

I have mentored so many people over my career, so its hard to just share one. I would rather discuss how we have mentored people internally within our organisation over the years, and the success story they all wrote. In particular, two ladies.

 

One, lets call her Sandra, came to work for VCA at the tender age of 18. Her mother was a caregiver to my granny, who had gone blind, and used to come with my granny for family lunches. One day she told us how Sandra was battling to find work, and that nobody was willing to give her a chance. At the time we were not in need of any staff members, but decided to let her come in for some experiential workplace time. She said we didn’t even need to pay her, just giving her a chance was enough.

 

She started the next Monday. Wet behind the ears and very eager to learn. Sandra ended up working for VCA for nearly 10 years. She was the first person in her family to obtain a diploma, or any tertiary education. She was the first person in her family to get a driver’s licence, and to buy her own car, and then she became the first person in her family to buy a property. Eventually, Sandra left for a bigger corporate, that could provide her with more growth than we had been able to.  But what a feeling, knowing that single-handedly, you had that impact in her life.

 

The second lady, we will call her Monique. Monique came to us as a little shadow of a woman, in an abusive marriage, with no self confidence at all. This was evident in her demeanour, in her dress, in her style, and in her eyes. She came as a part-time bookkeeper, but again we soon spotted the raw talent in Monique, who at this stage had been retrenched twice, had two small children, and was in dire need of a job. She was hungry and ambitious and with the right coaching, Monique became a force to be reckoned with. She obtained her first post-matric qualification, managed to leave her husband, get divorced, rent her first place of her own ever, and buy a new car. Monique was unfortunately poached by one of our clients, but such is the way of the world, always a bigger fish.

 

Just the stories of these two women makes me beam with pride. It is stories we forget, we dismiss, as part of the job, and part of what small businesses do. But we forget that in this way, we change narratives forever. We do not just have an effect on the employee, but their spouses, children, mothers, fathers, siblings. We have an effect on their communities, and eventually, as our small ripple expands, our country.

 

Lets not forget our stories, or our small or large successes, but celebrate them and recall them with pride.