Finding coaches or mentors if you’re self-employed
A coach or business mentor will help you devise strategies, offer advice, and point you in the direction of resources that will help you navigate your journey of self-employment. John Fellowes offers tips for finding one when you're self-employed.
What's the difference between a freelance mentor and a coach?
Mentoring and coaching are often confused and can frequently be used as synonyms for each other.
Both are philosophically similar, with the end goal being for the mentor/coach to impart knowledge for the betterment of their mentee or client.
However, they are technically different, and it is important to understand what you are looking for in the context of growing your business experience.
Historically, a mentor is more likely to be experience-based in delivering their support and more likely to have worked in the specific sector that the mentee is looking to achieve success in. Mentors can be a professional relationship (IE paid for their time), or it can be someone you already have in your life who is willing to donate their time (IE a relationship grown organically).
A coach is less likely to provide industry-specific advice and will usually focus more on general business practice and guidance. Coaches are more likely to be professionals (paid for advice) and to offer formal assessments.
Realistically, while both relationships can be short or long term, a general rule would say that a mentor is more likely to offer long-term advice and a coach provides a shorter-term service.
Alternatives to freelancing coaches or mentors
If you feel like a one-to-one mentorship or coaching relationship isn't for you, there are other ways for you to get the business support that you need.
IPSE's Incubator Programme is designed for anyone within the early stages of their self-employed career or those seriously considering moving into self-employment. The 12-month programme provides you with materials and resources to help and support lines and contact with IPSE staff for advice.
Additionally, if you live in a town or city, there may well be other local people area that work in a similar field to you. Based on their trade, they may have set up their own professional groups to network and share advice.
Wider community groups may also exist to help support local businesses that work across different sectors, and you may well be able to find experience and expertise by attending these.
Co-working groups are also an excellent option for support. Some communities have dedicated co-working spaces (usually in vacant shops or community spaces) where you can rent a desk to work at for the day.
Buddying up with someone who also works there as 'accountability partners' can be a brilliant way to help keep yourself on track without the time commitment of a mentorship.
If you don't have a co-working space in your local area, why not look to set one up? From pubs to art galleries, village halls to vacant offices, you can think outside of the box when setting up a coworking space, and you might be surprised by who is interested in the idea.
Social media can be an excellent tool for locating both business and community support groups.
Finally, if you are daunted about starting your self-employment journey yourself, you might want to consider starting a partnership instead. This will make the project collaborative and help to bring the broadest possible skill set to the endeavour.
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