About Dormen
What is Dormen?
Dormen is Dorset’s own bespoke business mentoring service. It is a confidential service provided by volunteers who are drawn from experienced members of the business community and the professions.
What does Dormen do?
Dormen recruits experienced business and professional people as volunteers to help small developing businesses by providing a mentoring service to them.
How can Dormen benefit a business?
The experience gained by a mentor throughout their business and professional career can be brought into a developing business through the mentoring relationship. The mentor is not there to run the business nor to see it run the “way they did it”. The business owner is in full control with the mentor behind them all the way. However, experience is invaluable in working through to the best business decision and mentors can help to formulate and test business plans and solve problems.
What types of business can have a Dormen Business Mentor?
Most types of business can be assisted by the Dormen service provided the business is a small business and clear growth benefits can be identified for the business and business owner. The referring organisations and project manager will run through the criteria for this with you. It is very flexible in its application.
What sort of people make up the Dormen Mentor Team?
Mentors are experienced business and professional people who are willing to give their time to help small and developing businesses in the rural Dorset area. There is a selection process on recruitment and all mentors are bound by a code of ethics they sign up to with Dormen. Mentors’ specific commercial and professional backgrounds vary enormously, which provides the depth and variety of the Dormen service. All Dormen mentors work to the SFEDI mentoring standard.
How long will a Mentor work with a business?
There is no pre-set period of time. A mentor can remain with a business for as long as there is a business need and the business is benefiting from the relationship.
Do Dormen Business Mentors work together sometimes?
Yes. Mentors are encouraged to bring in other mentors where a business could benefit from their experience. The project manager will discuss the likely benefits to the business with the mentors and co-ordinate work to make sure that everyone knows what is being done by whom. It might be that the mentors will both mentor the business equally, which will mean that the business will have two mentoring relationships, or there will be a “lead mentor” who will maintain the principal mentoring relationship.
What if the relationship with the business mentor doesn’t work out?
Mentoring relationships are almost without exception very successful. However it is inevitable that some will not work out. In the event that the relationship experiences any problems the Dormen programme manager should be the first point of contact. A solution might be a change of mentor or withdrawal from the mentoring relationship. Withdrawal is rare. The Dormen project manager will be able to work through any problems and hopefully find a solution that enables you and your business to progress and succeed with the Dormen service.
Do Dormen mentors work to specific standards?
All Dormen mentors work to the SFEDI (Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative) standard for business mentors.
All Dormen mentors undergo :
- A formal application process
- A personal interview
- A comprehensive induction into mentoring skills and Dormen processes
- Continuing Professional Development opportunities for training in specific subject areas
There are also :
- Regular surveys of client businesses and referrers to help pinpoint areas that work well and areas that could benefit from change.
- A Code of Standards and Ethics that all Dormen Business Mentors sign up to which covers a multitude of practices expected of mentors akin to those that might be expected of any professional business service.
What does the Dormen Business Mentoring service cost the business?
The service is free to small businesses in Dorset.
Is it really free?
Yes, totally! We do not seek any payment or funding from our clients. However, having said that if, after being mentored, a client feels that their business has benefitted significantly and so they wish to make a donation to Dormen, it would not be refused. Such contributions help to ensure that Dormen continues to exist and provide support to other small businesses in Dorset.