Mentorship is not a coffee session.

Mentorship is not a coffee session. It’s a Treatment Plan. Let’s clear something up. Mentorship is not a monthly coffee date. It’s not a motivational chat. And it’s definitely not “tell me how my business is doing” energy.

Mentorship is an intervention.

If your business walks into a mentorship session and leaves exactly the same as it arrived, then you didn’t get mentored, you just had a conversation and created content for LinkedIn.

The Real Purpose of Mentorship in Business

A business mentor exists to move the needle. Full stop.

Mentorship should:

• Improve decision-making

• Strengthen systems and structure

• Reduce costly mistakes

• Increase profitability, sustainability, or readiness for growth or funding

• If there is no progress, no clarity, no shift, something is wrong.

  
  

A mentor should be able to look at your business and say:

“This is what’s sick. This is why. And this is how we fix it.”

Is it uncomfortable? Of course.

Necessary? Always.

Personal Coaching vs Business Mentorship: Let’s Stop Mixing These Two

Here’s where many entrepreneurs get confused: Personal Coaching is for you. Mindset. Confidence. Leadership. Identity. Belief systems.

Business Mentorship is for the business. Strategy. Numbers. Structure. Pricing. Governance. Growth decisions. Risk.

Both are valuable, but they are not the same thing. You don’t go to a personal coach to fix your business cash flow. And you don’t go to a business mentor to heal your childhood wounds. Wrong tool, wrong outcome.

What a Business Mentor Should Actually Be Helping You With

A proper business mentor should be working with you on things like:

• Your business model and revenue drivers

• Pricing and cost structures

• Cash flow management

• Decision trade-offs and risk

• Team structure and capacity

• Systems, processes, and governance

• Funding readiness and scalability

There should be actions, follow-ups, and accountability.

If your mentorship sessions don’t result in:

• decisions made,

• numbers reviewed,

• strategies adjusted,

• or systems improved,

then respectfully… you’re paying for vibes. Paying......of course! Mentorship Is Not Free, And It Shouldn’t Be unless sponsored.

Here’s the truth many people don’t want to hear: Mentorship is a consultation. You don’t ask a doctor to diagnose you for free. You don’t ask a lawyer to review contracts “quickly”. And therefore, you shouldn’t ask a business mentor to fix your business for goodwill.

You are paying for:

• Experience

• Pattern recognition

• Hard-earned mistakes you don’t have to repeat

• Speed

Think of it this way:

You’re not paying for time. You’re paying to heal what’s broken before it becomes fatal.

Why Businesses Invest in Mentorship

Strong businesses understand this:

• They don’t want advice, they want clarity

• They don’t want motivation, they want direction

• They don’t want opinions, they want outcomes

Mentorship is not a nice-to-have. It’s a strategic decision.

If you’re serious about building a business that grows, scales, and survives beyond you, then mentorship isn’t optional, it’s responsible leadership.

Yours in Development,

Keitumetse Lekaba