Mentoring Categories
Mentoring support is available in the following areas:
BUSINESS PLANNING
A business plan is a structure of business goals, reasons that they can be achieved and a plan to reach them. A Mentor may be able to assist in formalising a business plan.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Research and Development is key to sustaining, predicting and innovating business strategies, products and processes. Examples of how a Mentor can assist in this area are in the provision of advice around intellectual copyright, patents and in how to effectively research competitors and existing and new markets.
QUALITY
Quality Auditing looks to ensuring your products or services are free from any defects. A Mentor may be able to assist work on elements such as controls and processes, inventory maintenance and stock control licencing.
GENERAL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
General Business Management looks to the total maintenance of a business. Advice is often sought in this area from individuals that may be at the very early stages of their entrepreneurial journey and need an overview of the best way to approach setting up and managing all aspects of their business.
MARKETING
Marketing is considered key to brand awareness and recognition. Advice sought in this area includes: website development and maintenance, appropriate avenues to market products and services, e-commerce and mobile development.
PR
PR captures the essence of a business and promotes it in the best possible light across all possible media. Advice sought in this area includes: how to write effective press releases, content for editorials, how to organise a product launch and engage in follow-up with potential and existing clients.
SALES
Sales is an essential aspect to the sustainability of a successful business. The platforms by which sales can now be conducted i.e. online activity has opened massive opportunities. Advice that has been sought in this area includes: e-commerce, creation of websites, the pros and cons of social media.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Training and Development centres on improving any person’s current or future performance. Advice sought in this area has included; assisting with developing performance appraisal systems, personal and professional development within a business framework and advice and recommendations on training needs.
FINANCE
Finance concerns itself with the management of money. Mentoring may involve assistance with money management or acquiring necessary funds to assist growth of a business. Financial advice may be in areas such as resource management, acquisition and investment.
IT
Information Technology encompasses a huge array of ways to create, store, share and use information. Advice in this area has been sought regarding storage issues such as the benefits of Cloud, how to overhaul existing computer networks, solutions to WIFI issues and advice on software maintenance.
LEGAL
Understanding all the legal implications of being engaged in business is crucial. Advice which has been sought in respect to legal issues has included: drafting of employment contracts, debt recovery and debt management and Intellectual Property.
HR
HR involves locating, screening, recruiting and training job applicants, as well as administering employee-benefit programmes. Areas where mentoring has been sought include: employment legislation, recruitment and selection.
SOCIAL & SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE
Social Enterprises come in all shapes and sizes, servicing markets as diverse as the environment, food & drink, childcare, education, and more. As there is no specific legal company form for social enterprise, they are often constituted differently to reflect the structure their founders decided best fit to meet their mission & vision.
CO-OPERATIVE ESTABLISHMENT & INCORPORATION
Co-operatives are people-centred enterprises owned, controlled and voluntarily set up by their members to realise a common social, economic or cultural need. Members are typically workers, customers, or the local community, and services offered range from community gardens to energy suppliers.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY INNOVATION
The circular economy is a production and consumption model involving sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended. This is a departure from the traditional, linear economic model based on a take-make-consume-throw-away pattern.
Actions proposed by the EU for member states aim to ‘close the loop’ of product lifecycles through changes in product design and increased waste prevention, reduction, reuse and recycling and will have implications for Irish business.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Business owners are so busy running their organisations that they often forget about themselves. Personal development, sometimes called “self-growth”, is a process of developing new skills, attitudes, actions, or reactions that can positively impact your life and increase your overall well-being. Leading by example by encouraging and cultivating a culture that pursues personal growth alongside business growth is a recipe for multiple levels of success.