Help just a phone call away

By ESTELLE SARNEY

When Will Selles left Vivien Stewart's office she nearly hugged him. The small-business mentor had been exactly what Stewart needed - a sympathetic listener who could offer guidance from his broad experience as a successful businessman.

"Will gave me such a boost," she recalls. "He renewed my self-confidence and reminded me of things I knew but had got into too much of a rut to put into action."

Stewart, managing director of a call centre, had been seeking business advice through her lawyer, but knew that wasn't his role.

Then she saw a television advertisement for Business in the Community, a charitable trust that provides mentors for small business operators.

Within a fortnight, the trust had matched her with Selles, and he visited her on site.

"I realised after talking with him that I'd been putting too many eggs in one basket," says Stewart. "I got straight on the phone and have since secured new contracts, enhanced my existing client relationships and am on the lookout for opportunities."

Selles is retired, having built a successful engineering recruiting business in Britain. He says he derives huge satisfaction from providing help he wishes he had received in the early stages of his business.

In two years he has mentored about 50 companies, including manufacturers, service providers and a psychiatric practice.



"We tend to forget what it's like at the beginning - the loneliness of having no one to talk to, waking up at 2am with worry, the stress of wearing so many hats," he says.

"Mentoring is a way of giving something back, and a good way of helping New Zealand do well competitively. If we have successful business, we have a successful country."

Business in the Community has operated in New Zealand for 10 years. It has 1500 mentors nationwide, helping about 5000 small businesses a year through 22 agencies. It is available to businesses more than six months old with fewer than 25 staff.

The service is free to businesses, and mentors' work is entirely voluntary. It is paid for by 170 large companies, which also encourage their executives to become mentors.

Other mentors are retired successful business people, and those still running successful small or medium-sized companies.

They are chosen for their listening skills, empathy, experience and ability to guide a client without taking over the business.

Business in the Community chief executive Sarah Trotman says clients often have the answers to their problems - they just need someone to give them a bird's-eye view of their business to help them to refocus.

"A mentor is really a sounding board, someone to bounce ideas off, a friend in business if you like," says Trotman.

A driving force behind the scheme is Sir James Fletcher, a director and trustee, who believes it helps to create a healthy business environment that benefits everyone, including big business.

"Small businesses are consumers of big business products and services," says Laurie Conder, who helps to run the scheme through the Enterprise North Shore trust.

"They need banking and insurance, cars, raw materials, telephone services, stationery, legal and accounting services - so it's in the interests of big business to help them to do well."

Conder says most small business owners start up because they have an idea or technical ability.

"Once they get going, they realise they need a lot of other skills, such as dealing with tax, accountancy, occupational safety and health requirements, employment law, landlords and lease documents.

"They also need direction, so mentors can help with planning, and they need customers, so we can help with marketing."

Mentors visit clients on site to get a better feel for the business.

"Someone might sound like they need more working capital, but you can't tell that to a 27-year-old with three children and a 90 per cent mortgage," says Conder.

"You have to teach him how to use the resources he's got more efficiently."

Loneliness and a sense of isolation are common among small business owners. Before making decisions they often want a second opinion or, as Stewart puts it, "someone sitting on my shoulder offering guidance".

"I was so lonely, and feeling very alone in my decision-making.

"Now Will is prepared to be on the end of the phone if I need more support. Just knowing he's therehelps."