What Does a Business Mentor Do?
A business mentor is someone who has owned or led a business and shares what they learned with an owner working through a problem. At New Hampshire Business Mentors, volunteer mentors meet entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofits one-to-one on virtual calls, and the service is free and confidential.
What is business mentoring?
Business mentoring pairs a business owner with someone who has run a business. Most owners get stuck on problems someone else has already solved. A mentor who has run a business shortens that learning curve and helps you make better decisions, faster.
At New Hampshire Business Mentors, the sessions are one-to-one conversations about your business. You bring the questions, and the mentors share what running a business taught them.
What a business mentor does and does not do
A business mentor listens first. Good mentoring starts with understanding your situation before offering advice. From there, the mentor answers from what they did and what they would change, so the advice fits a real company with real limits on time and cash.
A mentor at New Hampshire Business Mentors takes no equity and makes no sales pitch. Mentors volunteer their time, and what you tell them stays private. Every mentor accepts a Code of Ethics that covers confidentiality.
How mentoring works at New Hampshire Business Mentors
Tell us once.
Share where your business is and what you are working through. There is no account to create.
We match you.
A person on the nhbm team reads your request and picks mentors whose experience fits. You do not have to browse or choose.
Meet on a virtual call.
The nhbm team introduces you by email, then you meet your mentors on a virtual call. Keep meeting for as long as it helps.
Mentoring is one-to-one and confidential. Request a free business mentor
Who business mentoring is for
Owners at any stage, from a first idea to an established company, in any industry. Nonprofit leaders can ask for a mentor too. New Hampshire Business Mentors serves entrepreneurs, small business owners and nonprofits across the Seacoast area, from southern Maine, across New Hampshire and into northern Massachusetts. Most mentors are local to the region.
Browse the volunteer mentors, or apply to volunteer as a business mentor.
Questions about business mentoring.
What is a business mentorship?
A business mentorship is an ongoing, one-to-one relationship between a business owner and a mentor who has run a business. At New Hampshire Business Mentors, the owner brings the questions, the mentor shares what running a business taught them, and they keep meeting on virtual calls for as long as it helps.
What do volunteer business mentors do?
Volunteer business mentors listen first, because good mentoring starts with understanding the owner's situation before offering advice. They then answer from what they did and what they would change. They meet owners on virtual calls, and after each session they log a short note for the nhbm team.
Who can ask for a business mentor?
Entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofit leaders in the Seacoast area can ask for a business mentor, from southern Maine, across New Hampshire, and into northern Massachusetts. Owners can be at any stage, from a first idea to an established company, and in any industry. No account is needed.
Is business mentoring confidential?
Yes. Business mentoring at New Hampshire Business Mentors is confidential. What an owner shares stays with the owner, the mentors, and the nhbm team. Every mentor accepts a Code of Ethics that covers confidentiality, and mentors do not share what an owner discusses outside nhbm without the owner's consent.
Ready to talk to a mentor?
Tell us what you are working through. A person on our team reads every request.
Request a mentor