The voting result to leave the European Union on the 23rd June has caused a complete change in government; supposed business unease and disruption as well as friendship and family feuds.

We are still in the anticipation of an exit. It hasn’t happened yet. Theresa May is quite rightly, settling in as our new Prime Minister before instigating the next step: Triggering Article 50 which is not likely to happen until 2017 post considering all the options prior to the negotiation with Europe. Obviously her Brexiteer team will be all over this!

Where does this position us as professional business mentors?

It seems the doom and gloom has lifted a little after record revenues in certain sectors over the summer months. There has been many an article on not to panic and seizing the opportunities as well as articles stating the move out of Europe is highly detrimental on many levels. The fact is the situation is not a ‘one size fits all’ opportunities can be immediate and obvious Effects

As professional business mentors our role is very much to ease the pain and gain clarity on options and their outcomes. Now is very much a time to be engaging with current and previous clients to make sure they remain ahead of the curve. I can’t believe there are many practicing mentors who have first hand experience in anything like this unless they come from a country that we are about to simulate – Norway perhaps but then they didn’t have to navigate an exit. This means we need to draw upon all our knowledge and insight from working with people and their businesses, removing blinkers, identifying the options to capitalise on as well as avoid by discussing, exploring and making informed decisions.

Perhaps now is prime time to;

– consider collaboration or a merge?
– catch talent recently let go elsewhere
– invest to capture domestic market
– cutting losses and getting out of the game
– simply crack on guns a-blazing

Mentors should be providing the support to get ahead of the curve and look beyond the short term volatility, not just to focus on survival (lets not forget though some sectors have had a mini boom e.g tourism and hospitality) but position for long term gains and sustainable growth. Our exports are now at their most attractive due to the weak pound.

Watch out for..

1. Government support – on one hand there could be less money around if a recession hits (less taxes more unemployment benefit) but May could look to support small business. Seeing as this concept helped re-energise growth, employment and innovation in a big way via Growth Accelerator and latterly in the Business Growth Service I suggest this would be a smart move. ERDF funds will need to be replaced to some degree. We will be lobbying government on behalf of our members.
2. A Fall in consumer spending could impact on revenues of small businesses – which provides a greater need for mentors but restricted cash flow may cloud views on ability to pay for necessary advice – hence the need to articulate the value of mentoring for SMEs
3. The situation is an opportunity for ABM to target new government and shout loud and clear about credible mentoring and the detriments of poor advice – we are on it!

To finish on a highly positive note the vote to leave the EU provided an impact on consumer spending which has driven recovery so far. Last indications were that it was holding up, in fact Office of National Spending August 2016 reported the fastest upward trend in spending in two years. Our members will be making sure their clients are part of this story.

The Association of Business Mentors is a credibility platform for Business Mentors who have been there done it and have proved they can Mentor effectively. Bring in regulation.