Advising or mentoring business owners

As a business adviser or mentor, you face the constant pressure of providing high quality, comprehensive information for your clients. Your resources have to be affordable and of very high quality and should support your own experience and skills.

Quality products, affordable prices and flexible payment

Over the past ten years, we have helped many business advisers and mentors support their clients and deliver their contracted services. Our off-the-shelf information guides and training workbooks can be used as they stand or can be customised for your own needs or to meet funders’ requirements.

Browse the list of publications below or call Marianne Whitfield on 0191 461 8020 for more information about how we can help.

For your pre-start clients who are considering business

Thinking of Starting a Business

This full-colour workbook is aimed at people who are wondering if starting a business is the right choice for them. It provides a wealth of practical material and is ideal for working with groups of people who are considering self-employment. It is intentionally ‘light touch’ and prompts clients to consider the realities of starting and running their own business.

Advisers and mentors who buy this workbook:

• use it as learning material for one-day, pre-start-up courses
• give it to clients who are not sure whether business is right for them
• customise it with their own content, colours and brand
• use it as ‘off the shelf’ learning material for contract fulfillment
• like the style and tone of the writing and illustration.

The workbook takes a simple, step-by-step approach and includes 12 integrated worksheets that build towards a simple business action plan.  Find out more »

Essential Start-up Guide

This 24-page booklet covers the things your clients need to do when they first set up their business, such as choosing a business name, registering the business, and so on.

Advisers and mentors who buy this guide:

• use it as a gift for their start-up clients
• buy bespoke versions with their logo and content added
• like the full-colour style and design of this handy guide.

Volume discounts and customisation options are available. Find out more »

For your clients who are starting or running their own business

Planning and Starting a Business

This workbook has a simple aim: to help your clients avoid rushing into a business idea without thinking carefully about it first. It takes them step by step through the important first stages of their new business, helping them answer questions such as: What is your vision for your business? What skills do you need? How will you find customers? How much will it cost to start up?

Advisers and mentors who buy this workbook:

• use it as learning material for business start-up courses
• use it as support material for one-to-one business support
• provide it to distance learning clients
• like the step-by-step approach and use of plain English.

The workbook includes 34 worksheets that help your clients develop a business plan they can actually understand. If you buy multiple copies of this workbook, these worksheets are also supplied as Microsoft Office® documents.  Find out more »

What a great publication. I thought I had seen it all. This is a very good workbook but more importantly it is a user-friendly tool. Unfortunately, if I leave it on my desk, it goes missing too often…!
Charles Morton, as Partnership Manager, InBiz London

Essential Business Guide

All the small business information in The Essential Business Guide is clearly written and easy to follow. It assumes no prior knowledge of business or business terms, so it’s the perfect reference guide whether your clients are just starting out, or if they’ve been in business for a while. We take complex information and make it readable and quick and easy for them to find.

I would urge every business adviser in the land to read this incredibly useful, well-written and informative book: The Essential Business Guide.
Sylvia Tidy-Harris in Your Business, Daily Telegraph

Advisers and mentors who buy this guide:

• use it as a reward for completion of business training courses
• like the colourful design and the ‘dip in and out’ nature of the writing and layout
• use it as a useful reference guide to keep on the desk.

Find out more »

The Guide is an excellent reference tool on a range of diverse topics that the small business owner simply has to know about. It is easy to read, provides invaluable advice and practical tips, and most importantly, provides information on complicated issues in an easy to understand format, taking up the minimum amount of valuable time.
Lord Digby Jones while Director-General of the CBI

Understanding Your Business Finances

This wirobound workbook provides expert guidance on everything from raising finance to managing money. The author, Johnny Martin FCA, is an experienced finance director who has hands-on experience of the nitty-gritty of small business finance. With integrated worksheets, practical examples and step-by-step guidance, this comprehensive workbook provides ideal learning material for finance workshops and courses.

Advisers and mentors who buy this workbook:

• use it to deliver post-start-up business financial training
• are working with the Start Up Loans Company
• use it with their high-growth clients
• like the interactivity, real-life examples and clear explanation of a complex subject.

The 12 integrated worksheets help your clients understand the three main financial reports: cash flow forecast, profit and loss report and balance sheet. Find out more »

Brilliantly written by someone who understands the needs of the small business community…
Dr Stephen Fear, Entrepreneur in Residence & Ambassador, British Library