An Oldham entrepreneur has been picked to become part of a national network of voluntary mentors to support Britain’s SMEs as the UK braces for recession, according to small business support platform Enterprise Nation.
Jerry Hanss launched, grew and exited a successful global business distributing capital equipment including unique road-legal electric vehicles based in Hawksley Street and has signed up to the Government’s flagship business support programme Help to Grow: Management Course to be part of a team delivering ten thousand hours of support for firms.
The experience of carefully building ePowerTrucks 22 years ago and then selling it last year through a management buyout (MBO) gave the 53-year-old a very detailed understanding of the lifecycle of a successful business.
Jerry said: "When you start a business, you have to do everything. You have to find the office base, buy the office furniture, recruit staff, the list is endless. It's an enormous amount of effort and that's often before you've made a single penny.
"After I stepped down from running the business full time, I realised I had a lot of very relevant experience that could help people avoid some of those early mistakes and become more efficient to build a business that you can smoothly exit at the right time for you."
Jerry was involved with the legal negotiation and transfer of his business and found the experience an eye-opener - picking up a lot of practical tips. He recently launched his own business, the Hanss Consultancy to specifically offer advice to those looking to prepare for a smooth exit from their business in the long term.
He said: "There are some very specific documents that must be up to date and accurate and then delivered to the buyer’s solicitors. If you do not have these documents and information to hand you could be unwittingly putting potential buyers off or jeopardising future deals. Careful and efficient document management can make all the difference, but it's an area that's just not very well understood. I want to change that."
Jerry has volunteered and trained to be a mentor on the Government's Help to Grow: Management Course, offering practical support and guidance for those on the 12-week business programme.
"Having the sound advice of someone with experience is invaluable for any business owner. Offering my time to be a mentor was an easy decision for me, especially as we enter more difficult trading conditions.
"By focusing on things they can control and learning how to efficiently manage elements that they can't, such as fluctuating exchange rates, increased cost of living and inflation, will be very important for any business as we navigate the next 12 to 18 months."
The impressive list includes top names from corporates like banking giant Santander, FTSE 100 telecoms firm Vodafone and leading flexible space provider WeWork as well as hundreds of small business owners.
The Help to Grow: Management Course offers senior business leaders one-to-one support from an experienced business mentor included in 50 hours of leadership and management training across 12 weeks, with the government covering 90% of the costs involved. Training is delivered via a national network of 56 Business Schools.
Emma Jones, founder of small business support platform Enterprise Nation, part of the consortium of businesses contracted to recruit volunteer mentors for the course, said: “It’s been so incredibly humbling to see high calibre leaders including hundreds of independent business owners, with the human strength and humility to step forward and offer their own time, experience, and knowledge to support the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs.
“The Help to Grow: Management Course online platform will allow businesses to find the perfect match for their business so they can start to put what they have learned into practice.”
Small Business Minister Jane Hunt MP said: “Seizing opportunity is what being a business leader is all about, and our Help to Grow: Management Course is giving entrepreneurs the chance to access the very best advice on how to innovate, reach new customers and boost profits.
“The great and the good of the business world are signing up to mentor the next generation of top business leaders, and I encourage even more people to sign up as both mentors and mentees through Help to Grow: Management Course.”
A digital platform will use data and weighting technology to pair businesses with mentors based on location, sector, and mentoring support required. Mentors sign up on a voluntary basis and offer a commitment of 10 hours, over 12 weeks, plus time to engage in training offered by the Association of Business Mentors.
Once they have found a mentor that suits their requirements, the Help to Grow: Management Course participant will then use the platform to book in sessions and communicate with each other.
In exchange for offering their time and experience, voluntary Help to Grow: Management Course mentors receive significant value in the form of industry recognised mentor training, access to qualified content, networking opportunities with other mentors, and the possibility to join a national effort aimed at supporting the growth of the UK economy by increasing small businesses’ productivity.
Led by business support group Newable and including Enterprise Nation and the Association of Business Mentors, the consortium has been appointed by the Government to develop a national network of business leaders and experts who will share their skills and experience with firms on the practical management training course.
For those interested in becoming a mentor, sign up here.
