Make an Impact
Small businesses are the character of our communities. The bakery that makes your favorite cupcakes, the store that sells those one-of-a-kind-shirts and hats you love, your barbershop, comic book shop, coffee shop — anywhere you shop. That list goes on and on. Small businesses make your neighborhood, town, or city unique, but they’re also on the decline across America.
Small businesses with a mentor succeed at twice the national average. In fact, small businesses that work with a mentor through our award–winning BusinessAdvising.org platform grow their revenues by 20% on average, and create jobs for working people at ten times the national rate. As an advisor, you’ll have the opportunity to:
- Use your unique skills and hard-earned business knowledge to help small business owners create new jobs in lower-income communities
- Serve as a mentor by working with a small business owner to discuss their challenges and give specialized advice and guidance to grow their business
- If you can, open your network to small business owners to empower them to strengthen local economies across America
Help a small business create new jobs for working people in their local communities. Don’t worry if you’ve never worked for or run your own small business. We’ll match you with the right small business based on what you can contribute. When small businesses thrive, our entire economy thrives.
‘There’s enough bad in the world, and I just want new and different ways to put some good in it. All I can do is advise and inform and give people knowledge that they may not have, and hope that will lead them to do the same thing for other people.’
Dr. Brian Thomas
Volunteer Advisor
Share Your Skills And Create Real Community Impact
As a volunteer business mentor or advisor, you’ll be able to serve as a mentor by meeting with a small business owner to discuss their company’s challenges and give specialized advice and guidance to grow their business
You might be thinking, ‘Who has time to volunteer?’ But the truth is, it only takes less than 5 hours a month to make a big difference in someone else’s life. Don’t worry if you’ve never worked for or run your own small business. We’ll match you with the right small business based on what you can contribute.
How It Works
Our Business Advising program gives Main Street, family-owned, or independent businesses the same tools and resources that drive big companies to great success. If we help empower small business owners to increase their competitiveness while at the same time creating quality jobs with better wages, then every community and worker in America benefits.
Who You Are
Take 10 minutes to tell us about your career experience, skills, and other areas of expertise.
We’ll find you a business owner to work with
We’ll propose potential matches, but leave the final decision on advising up to you.
You’ll schedule time to connect
Don’t worry – we’ll provide some structure and guidance to get you started.
A Real Desire to Give Back
Most Mentors Meet The Following Criteria:
- A few years experience in an area such as marketing, sales, finance, HR, manufacturing, operations, social media, or general business management
- Commitment to working with a small business owner for up to 5 hours per month
- Willingness to participate in regular partnership surveys and an annual evaluation about how we can improve the program
- Located in the United States or Canada
- Volunteer advising can be done in person, or through Zoom, on the phone, Facetime, Google Hangout — whatever’s easiest for you!