Ever felt stuck, uncertain or overwhelmed? Yep, you are a business owner. And to succeed, you can’t do it all on your own. The most successful business owners all ask for help – from a mentor. Keep reading to learn why mentorship matters at every phase of your business.
Do what YOU do best (here’s why mentorship matters)
When you’re looking to grow your business, the realization that you can’t (and more importantly, don’t have to) do it all alone is a HUGE step in the right direction. Micromanaging every aspect of your business is not only a drain on your time and intellect, it’s not in your best interest.
Knowing that there are areas you don’t necessarily have mastery of and deciding to seek help is the smarter, better choice for your business. Sometimes we don’t even know what we don’t know: That’s when you seek a professional.
What type of help is right for me?
Now, there are several types of professionals you can turn to. It just depends on what you need. But it’s important to understand the distinction between each type of professional so that you know:
- How to navigate your relationship
- What amount and (and what quality) of help you can expect
- Which questions to ask to maximize your experience
- When you can anticipate seeing positive outcomes
- Where you can go once your time together ends (if it does, in fact, end)
4 Professionals who can help
How a professional positions themselves in their business can give you more insight into what it is they can actually do for you. There are generally four main types of external help that business owners like you rely upon:
Get to know each type to determine who can help you better, today :
Consultants
A consultant is someone with a specific skill set. You can formally bring consultants in to complete specialized tasks for your business. They often hold skills and knowledge you might be shaky on and have access to additional resources. Consultants can make savvy moves on your behalf based on their own experience.
Consultants are a good “band aid” solution in a pinch when you simply need to offload important tasks from your own plate. Maybe you really need someone to take over your social media content, or want someone with ad experience to set up and run targeted ad campaigns.
A consultant might be the ticket, though, they typically will not consider it part of their work to help you develop your skills. Many consultants operate as independent contractors looking to help you hit your goals by accomplishing the tasks you assign them. When it comes to consultants, be prepared to manage their time and to-do lists.
COACHES
A business coach is most often a trained practitioner who provides accountability to you, their client, and helps find answers to your business-related questions.
The coach’s goal is to improve your performance. Coaches often instruct and train from a set plan or loose curriculum based on what you want to work on. That could be anything from leadership within your own business, to your company’s financial growth, to personal day-to-day life improvement.
Coaches don’t necessarily hold all of the answers, but structure their work to pinpoint and work toward your goals. They will help identify and overcome challenges to zero in on your growth. Coaches will often practice “tough love,” bringing an outsider’s perspective on what needs to happen before your goals are within reach.
ADVISORS
In some ways, an advisor can be viewed as the halfway point between a consultant and a coach. An advisor will often step in and serve as a much-needed set of eyes with a particular knowledge of or experience around something. Advisors are looking to help in highly specific ways, will share their personal recommendations, and quite often, provide direct access to some of the answers you are looking for.
Advisor roles will generally feel more casual depending on the level of compensation. It’s not unheard of for close friends or family members to serve as business advisors for free, but those outside of your personal circle might charge a fee for their expertise. Your relationship with an advisor will involve more conversation, more interactive problem solving, and perhaps most importantly, more opinions.
(We’ve made it to our favorite! Here’s why mentorship matters)
MENTORS
A mentor is a trained practitioner who will look at you as a whole, see where you are, and help you visualize where you want to be. A mentor’s job is to be generous with logistical guidance, emotional support, and practical insights from someone who has “been there.”
Your relationship with a mentor should never feel “one-size-fits-all” or prescribed. It should feel fully customized and tailored to your needs as a business owner. Mentors take the time and care to fully comprehend you and your business before starting the mentoring process. In fact, a mentor will rarely tell you WHAT to do, but rather help you explore how best to DO IT. Mentors construct action plans that are deeply thoughtful and personalized based on your needs.
Unlike consultants and coaches, a relationship with a mentor does not end once a contract is up or a program has been completed. While a mentor might be most active with you and your business over a certain period of time, they are usually “for life.” They welcome your calls and emails over time and love to hear about your progress. They will also often continue to address any issues you’ve been dealt on an ongoing basis.
Here’s why mentorship matters at every phase of your business.
Because you spend so much time with your mentor, your relationship feels more personal. They are a dependable ear and a sturdy sounding board who also look to help you develop your own skills. A mentor gives you the gift of their own knowledge and experience. A mentor also personalizes recommendations specifically for you.
Why is “mentor” our favorite?
Because there’s no one-size fits all way to build a successful nutrition business. But there are better ways! The Better Nutrition Program, founded by Ashley Koff, RD, is in the empowers practitioners to deliver personalized nutrition recommendations to start and scale their businesses for success on their terms. The BNP Toolkit™ provides you the tools you need and our on-demand video library brings you mentorship whenever you need it.
Need more personalized help? As members, you can schedule individual sessions with Ashley and our team of experts. And our mastermind includes a personalized kickoff session with Ashley as well as monthly sessions with a few other colleagues (less than 10) to check-in, get support and goal set to stay on track.
Ashley’s passion for individualized business mentorship pairs perfectly with her experience as a practitioner. Not only has she “been there and done that,” but she knows that every provider and every business is unique. That’s why she has developed so many diverse tools and resources that you can use to grow your business and change lives. She will even help you decide which of the above roles YOU play for YOUR clients.
Do your business dreams include:
- Scaling a practice to 7 figure
- Helping more people but using your time better with group programs
- Being a brand spokesperson
- Stepping up onto more stages as a keynote speaker, or
- Sharing your knowledge on television …
- All of these and more
Ashley’s been there and is ready to share her experience, network, and winning negotiation efforts to help you reach your dreams. The BNP Toolkit™ and mentorship with Ashley Koff RD will help you reach your goals on your terms.
Quick food for thought: What role do you play for your own clients?
This exercise will be helpful in a moment, promise. Stay with us!
Are you a nutrition consultant? Do you write up programs and menus for you clients and trust them to do the work on their own?
Are you a nutrition coach? Do you provide accountability along the way for your clients?
Are you a nutrition advisor? Do you work with clients on a more informal basis? Do you guide them toward choices based on your own experience in your trainings, clinical work, or internships?
Or are you a mentor? Do you get to know your clients personally and create customized plans around their goals and lifestyle?
Which best describes you?
There is room for all of these types of practitioners in the nutrition space. One isn’t necessarily better than the other, because just like every business owner is different, so is every client that you treat. We all need different types of help.
Pinpointing what you offer is a fantastic way to more accurately zoom in on what you need to be effective at what you do.
Take a moment to think it through (and remember, you have the power and wherewithal to change you mind and your business offering whenever you want to).
So. Who DO you need to help you soar?
All of these terms we went over often get used interchangeably, which is Ashley’s pet peeve. Mixing them up can make finding help confusing, even for the best of us. But the differences in denotation are important in order to be able to figure out what will fill the gaps in your respective business models.
So here is where we swoop in and tell you the BIG secret: No matter what you need from the above, The Better Nutrition Program has exactly what you need today.
“BNP has given me business clarity and a focus – a systematic approach to help me move forward from idea to execution. I was definitely stuck before BNP… The done for you tools were a gift (OK, a valuable investment) – it allowed me to get unstuck.”
– Nina Dahan
MS, RD
“Being able to have a consultation with Ashely was priceless. I was spinning my wheels trying to launch my first program and started to get frustrated. After speaking with Ashley, I gained so much clarity on what I needed to do to launch my first program successfully.”
– Rebecca Faulkner
MSN, PMHNP-BC, RD
“One of the best decisions I made this year was investing with BNP . The tools are beautiful and amazing! I’m really enjoying our weekly “office hours” and being a part of the Provider Referral Network”.
-Meg Moreta
RD, CDE
Still not sure which membership is the best option for you? Join Ashley for a free demo to meet her and discover the power of The BNP Toolkit™ for your business. She’ll help you see what your business needs so you can crush your goals together!
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