Export Experienced Mentors Required

Export Experienced Mentors
Required by Business Mentors New Zealand

Media Release 15 May 2007

Business Mentors New Zealand, in association with Export New Zealand, are keen to recruit additional mentors with export experience to join our exiting pool of export mentors.

Small business owners/managers can become isolated without peers or colleagues to talk with about their company and they are often too busy with day-to-day operational details to take stock. Many lose sight of the need to assess their business ‘from a distance’ and they lose sight of their original goals and plans. This is where a business mentor can assist.

Business mentors are coaches, not consultants. They do not replace existing professional advisers. Mentors often recommend clients develop a closer relationship with their accountant, bank manager or other professional service suppliers.

The Business Mentors NZ mentoring programme offers expertise in a range of business areas. We match clients with mentors depending on the knowledge and skills required. Businesses are increasingly calling for specialist skills to help them sharpen their competitive edge and to deal with a complex business environment. Export is one of these specialist skill areas and the government’s commitment in Export Year 07 is to improve New Zealand’s export performance.

Not everyone can be a mentor. Business mentors are highly skilled individuals with the type of experience and wisdom that can transform up and coming, small and medium-sized businesses. Mentoring opens you to new experiences, keeps you up-to-date with trends and techniques in business competitiveness, and gives you hands-on experience that no textbook can replicate. It also gives you access to a wide network of other mentors and promising businesses.

Mentors also get the reward of assisting small businesses to grow so they contribute more to New Zealand’s economy. The government recognises the role mentors play in promoting economic growth and business development, that delivers a direct and measurable benefit to the community, through generating both wealth and employment.

Our 1400-plus mentors come from varied backgrounds and include some of New Zealand’s leading business people. They may be working, retired or semi-retired members of the business community. We also run a Professional Development Programme for our mentors and it is a requirement that all new mentors attend a one-day seminar within six months of becoming a mentor. Professional Development focuses on the principles and responsibilities of the mentoring programme and provides information and tools to assist mentors in their role.

If you are interested in becoming an export-focused Mentor for Business Mentors New Zealand, visit our website – www.businessmentor.org.nz – where you can apply online to be part of the programme. The site provides information on the programme, case studies and has an exclusive support area for mentors.

ENDS

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