Mentoring FAQs
Quick Mentor E-Handbook
Getting started with Mentoring - essential information
We wanted to keep you informed as to mentoring and the best way to carry out mentoring relationships.
We appreciate if you are very busy and respect that.
Common Mentoring Questions
Who should I expect to hear from?
Business owners aged between 20 - 40 years old, running businesses turning over $100K - $5million across all industries.
How will they contact me?
They will contact you via your nominated email address
You as a mentor will have your own profile on the membership website listing your expertise, availability and who you'd like to mentor. Each business owner will self select to contact a mentor depending on their own needs and challenges.
What do I get as a mentor?
This is a question we asked some of our existing mentors and some of their responses included -
- A sense of fulfillment of being able to give back and contribute including sharing lessons learnt and mistakes made
- A chance to self reflect as you share and teach - you also find you learn about yourself and your habits and behaviour
- A sense of being able to contribute to another human being and another enterprise outside yourself
- If you are looking for potential investment opportunities (albeit financial or personal involvement) in emerging and new businesses - then this is one avenue by which you will be introduced to exciting new businesses and ventures
How are the young business owners selected for this membership program?
1. Each business owner will fill in a form with their business background, challenges, goals etc
2. Membership is not guaranteed - FRANK Team will individually assess each business owner to ensure they meet our criteria
3. We are looking to enable committed business owners who already have established a business and are turning over at least $100,000 p/a
How many young business owners will there will in the initial intake?
The initial intake will be open for 200 young business owners. We will re-assess our intake numbers once we have successfully reached this milestone.
Is the mentoring free?
Yes. mentoring at all times is free
However, if you wish to pursue a longer term role with the business i.e in terms of providing strategic advice, joining as an advisory board member, or providing business coaching - then you may nominate yourself as an Advisor and charge for your time. For example, $300 per hour.
What is the difference between a mentor and an advisor?
As part of this membership offering, young business owners have access to free mentoring as well as paid advisory services. As above, paid advisory services are more for longer term consulting/advisory positions, advisory board positions and business coaching.
You nominate an hourly rate as an advisor.
Until June 2013, advisors can list their services for free to business owners. We will update you if there are any changes to this by June 2013.
Apart from the mentoring, what do business owners receive?
Our members will get access to masterclasses, workshops, regular networking nights, directory listings of businesses for sale, joint venture opportunities, mastermind groups, free online business video courses as well as discounts to general business events.
Is the membership ongoing?
Yes the business owners pay a monthly subscription fee of $49 per month and can cancel anytime.
We may add further membership levels in the next coming months; but this is the standard offering.
How often will you hear from us @ FRANK Team?
We will check in with you every quarter via email to see if everything is going ok. If you'd prefer us not to, please inform Beth at beth@frankteam.com.au
What's the best way to kick off a mentoring relationship?
Best practices when mentoring someone for the first time
We find the most successful mentoring relationships are ones with shared values as well as honesty.
So we suggest starting off with an honest conversation/ email about the following -
- Their vision/purpose personally and for running the business
- Their goals 6 month and 12 month
- Their 3 main current challenges
- What they specifically need from you as a mentor
Additionally you should also be upfront about what they should expect from you and what you can and cannot guide them on.
Do I have to provide ongoing mentoring?
No - you decide to which extent you are available.
What happens if I cannot continue the mentoring?
If for some reason you cannot continue mentoring, honesty is the best policy. Also feel free to contact us and let us know.
Apart from the mentoring, what other support do members have access to?
Members will have the choice to join peer mastermind groups. These groups will consist of around 4-5 members who can meet regularly and the purpose of these groups is to stay accountable, inspired and connected.
As a mentor, you might want to give them tasks to complete and check in with during these regular mastermind sessions.
The more hairy mentoring questions
Here is a little bit more about managing mentoring relationships - to keep you informed and prepared
Please contact Beth, your mentoring manager at beth@frankteam.com for any and all inquiries.
What do I do if someone is contacting me too much. or taking advantage of the free mentoring sessions?
It is important for the integrity of the mentoring, that it is conducted fairly and with respect.
You can let us know immediately if a member is misusing this. We may revoke a members membership if we find that this is the case.
What happens if I think a business owner needs more ongoing work, apart from the ad hoc mentoring?
You can offer to contribute for more ongoing work on a paid basis - we leave this upto you.
We do ask that you advice us also of this to keep us informed.
How is confidentiality ensured?
This mentoring does work on a basis of trust.
We have informed each business owner when they join, to only reveal to their mentors what they are comfortable revealing especially regarding any IP or financial issues.
As a mentor, it is important to understand that not all business owners will be forthcoming with all their business information. This may or may not change depending on the mentoring relationship.
It is part of our Terms of Service that we have asked all business owners to agree that The FRANK Team Pty Ltd and all mentors, speakers and any other representatives do not take any responsibility for the divulgence of any commercially sensitive information and consequences resulting from this.
ABOUT US
Our Brand new 2013 young entrepreneur online membership offering opens in 2013.
Email: info@frankteam.com.au
Website: youngentrepreneurs.net.au
Phone: 1300 953 133
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frankteam?fref=ts