The beginnings in busines.s can be very difficult Lack of experience, a complicated tax system, dishonest contractors are just some of the adversities faced by young entrepreneurs. It would be much easier to run a business, especially in the initial stage, if they could use the support of experienced, proven businessmen. What is standard in Europe is still in its infancy in Poland. Does effective real advice have a chance of breaking with us?
Other worlds, one goal
In the business environment, there are four types of services that are intended to strengthen both beginners and entrepreneurs already active on the market. One of the basic ones is mentoring, i.e. the relationship between a student of a given field and an industry expert. Such cooperation often takes place informally, but its features also appear in a slightly more commercial field – consulting. However, counseling derived from the English language is a slightly broader concept and also covers the fight against professional and life crises. Tools that are the domain of consulting are also used by business consultants. These, in turn, work with both specific specialists and entire teams within a specific organization. These, in turn, work with both specific specialists and entire teams within a specific organization.
The fourth type of activity aimed at strengthening entrepreneurs is coaching. This field does not enjoy a good reputation, especially in Poland – there is still a stereotype of frivolous and shallow coaching, which is aimed at strengthening the finances of the training organizers themselves. Such a harmful picture hits primarily real advisors – people with a huge scientific background, but also real business experience.
– Coaching is a process of cooperation between the coach and the client aimed at developing the client’s potential and achieving his goals. Coaching is also a special kind of relationship […]. It is based on mutual trust, openness, and the attentiveness shown by the coach in the course of the conversation. […] It is thanks to her that the client experiences power which becomes a factor of change. It is worth emphasizing that this power comes not from the coach, but from the relationship developed during coaching sessions – he explains in the book published by Kozminski University, “Coaching. New perspectives and challenges ”by Dionizy Smoleń.
Real coaching draws on the achievements of, among others positive psychology and anthropocentric thought represented by Alfred Adler, Carl Jung and Albert Ellis. Thus, real coaching is treated not only as a fully-fledged scientific discipline, but also a tangible tool for supporting entrepreneurs. However, is there an even more effective method of strengthening businesses that combines the features of mentoring, counseling and consulting? Yes – this is what Business Advisors do.
Business Advisor needed immediately
As early as September 1982, Arthur N. Turner in the Harvard Business Review described the great importance of consulting services for American companies, while emphasizing the need to expand the concept of this type of support. The author stated that business needs help from, among others on the part of practitioners who have dealt with similar cases not only on a theoretical but also practical level. Today, entrepreneurs and female entrepreneurs operating both on the Western and domestic markets are of a similar opinion. Beata Drzazga, the founder and president of the network of BetaMed S.A. facilities that provide long-term care at the patient’s home, states that today beginners and already active owners of their own businesses need a holistic reinforcement. – I base my experience in business consulting, incl. at BetaNest Electronics stores in Miami, and BetaMed International in Las Vegas. The Nevada experience in particular has shown me the real value of consulting. With time, I started advising independent managers, and then the owners of the companies themselves. I saw with my own eyes how this type of support translates into the real growth of organizations and specific projects. I also experience the fact that I meet people who are happy to tell that thanks to me and my story, which they heard directly from me, they opened their own company, for example two years ago, and are taking steps in business. I also receive messages from women and men who search for me and write to me that I am their inspiration or role model. “Mrs. Beato is you an amazing woman who inspires me.” This is real news on my social media. It also gives me feedback that my externalization of my experience in walking through business is important and needed by people. I can see that entrepreneurs in Poland need such support at their various stages. Especially at the beginning of your journey – underlines Beata Drzazga, founder and president of BetaMed S.A. as well as the owner of the Drzazga Clinic laser therapy clinic and the Dono da Scheggia fashion salon.
Using a database of 30 million job profiles, researchers from the Zippia research center in the United States alone, there are 25,652 people calling themselves Business Advisors. Most of them, as much as 22 percent. cooperates with concerns listed in the Fortune 500 ranking, which is a list of the 500 largest American companies classified according to gross revenues by the Fortune magazine. Importantly, however, these types of services are not reserved only for global corporations – quite the opposite. As experts from Grow Advance Group point out, it is small and medium-sized enterprises that benefit the most from cooperation with Business Advisor.
– A Business Advisor is a person who, through several sessions with the owner or a small, e.g. three-person management of a small business, can support a given organization in such a way that it will quickly gain momentum. It is this dynamics that is the greatest reward for both the owners and the Advisor. In Poland, young entrepreneurs need such support, especially after the greatest waves of the pandemic and in the trend of massive digitization. Business Advisor is a real opportunity for domestic companies – points out Beata Drzazga, who conducts regular advisor sessions in Poland.
As Beata Drzazga herself explains, consulting is a direct response to the challenges of today’s economic reality. Importantly, however, the founder and president of BetaMed S.A. he does not deal with strictly financial consulting, but just motivational and coaching. This means that the Business Advisor will not give a ready recipe for, for example, tax optimization of the company, but will develop an action plan that will allow, for example, the involvement of new talents or opening up to external support.
– The key is a change of mentality. This is where more specific operational decisions begin that lead to the solution of given problems. It is impossible to advise on every matter, but the Business Advisor’s task is to focus on mental processes and, among others, interpersonal communication. It is these elements that determine the success of the next steps. Such a school is represented by most of the largest entrepreneurs in the world, whom I met in Chile and Peru during economic missions. I also meet many scientists, enlightened people, among others at a conference of new technologies in Singapore or during meetings in the Silicon Valley concerning also new technologies and artificial intelligence, where I had the pleasure to appear in panels presenting technological novelties in medicine. Such meetings primarily strengthen personality, faith in business, our decisions and actions, so I want to share it with others to inspire people to act. Everyone experiences better and worse moments in business as well. The most important thing is to be able to get out of it stronger – explains Beata Drzazga.
Currently, entrepreneurs, in addition to economic challenges, are primarily struggling with psychological challenges. The pandemic, restrictions in running a business, and now also high inflation and problems with financial liquidity translate into a poor mental state of entrepreneurs. Stress, lack of sleep, conflicts, crises, burnout and even the loss of a branch are the obstacles faced by Business Advisor. However, according to Beata Drzazga, the key to an effective solution of the problem is an honest exchange of experiences and strengthening the entrepreneur’s business personality.
– People with whom I work during sessions or individual conversations appreciate the stories just quoted from my own professional or life path. Often, it is only when someone hears that I am also only human and that I also have everyday challenges that they believe that it is normal. It is important to find a balance between being an entrepreneur and a parent. Thanks to this, they have the opportunity to reflect on their situation with my cases, which I often had to solve myself. I didn’t start out with huge capital, a team of specialists and extensive contacts in the environment. No – I started everything from scratch and step by step I implemented my strategy, despite huge challenges also in my private life. Finally, I discovered a lot of courage, but also responsibility for myself and my team. Thanks to these two values, I became the first Polish woman to open her business in Nevada. Now, with my example, I show that everything is possible – says Beata Drzazga, one of the Polish Business Advisors.
Business consulting becomes a mandatory point in the business plans of Western entrepreneurs. In Poland, however, we have a lot of catching up to do, but the examples of national Business Advisors initiatives show that there is a great need for substantive improvement of entrepreneurs also on the Vistula. A session with a reliable Business Advisor is a unique opportunity to verify your current attitude towards running a business and the opportunity to cooperate with experienced practitioners. These types of sessions are a great opportunity both for people who are just thinking about starting their own business, for newly minted business owners, as well as for experienced entrepreneurs who face the challenges of every day in business.
FINDING A PROVEN BUSINESS ADVISOR IS HALF THE SUCCESS. ANOTHER RAIL DEPENDS ONLY ON REGULAR COOPERATION AND HONEST INVOLVEMENT OF THE ENTREPRENEURSELF.