11/10/2018
Why is DBA Twenty/Twenty Mentoring the best investment you’ll make in your business?
By Design Business Association
“Quite simply the best investment I have ever made in my business hands down.”
We caught up with Twenty/Twenty mentee, Ben Stanbury, founder of Bright Lights Creative to see what impacts the DBA’s mentoring programme has brought to both his business and Ben personally, and why he’s decided to sign-up again this year.
How would you sum up your Twenty/Twenty experience?
A game changer for me and my business. My mentor has taught me so much and made me look at my business in a totally different light. Doing the Twenty/Twenty programme has utterly changed my approach to my business, and the way I talk about my services.
What are the main impacts you’ve experienced personally and for your business?
More confidence: a more mature approach to every aspect, from proposals to pricing and through to language and terminology. It’s been a great success on many levels. I’ve benefited from it so much; I just wish I’d done it several years ago when I joined the DBA. I basically look at my business now as ‘what I did before I started mentoring’ and ‘what I know now I’ve done mentoring’.
Why did you decide to get involved in the programme?
It had always been something that I’d wanted to do. As a small ‘one man’ business I felt like I could learn a lot from a well established agency, having not had much real ‘agency’ experience I started my business just trying to do what I thought was right, with no real guidance.
What, if anything, has surprised you about the programme?
I thought I knew what I wanted from my business, which was a simple ‘I want to achieve X’ objective. My mentor made me look at the business from a far higher vantage point; he made me step way back and re-assess the situation. The direction I’ve gone in was very unexpected, but very exciting for me. Although the suggested changes and direction were challenging to acclimatise to, through suggested reading lists, recommended podcasts and just through talking it over, I was left in no doubt that I am doing the right thing and heading in the right direction, which I would have never ever considered a year ago.
What would you say to someone who was undecided as to whether they should sign-up to Twenty/Twenty?
Quite simply the best investment I have ever made in my business hands down. I’ve done generic business coaching but this is worlds-apart. To be able to sit down with an established agency director and have them look at what you do with an utterly frank ‘no-nonsense’ approach is a very healthy thing to do if you’re starting out, or you aspire for more. Basically I’ve loved doing it, which is why I’m applying for another year.
