My work as a business mentor brings me in contact with many different people, in all kinds of commercial fields. Young or experienced, retail or non-profit, financial issues or failing sales campaigns – I have the fun and honour of working with them all.

My aim is to make my clients aware of their surroundings, enhance their self-belief, and then empower them to take responsibility. The results should be seen in a balance sheet shower higher value.

Seems simple enough, although the process is rarely that smooth. The reasons vary enormously – the commercial environment changes, personal issues need to be resolved, technological problems emerge. However, progress is achievable.

So, if it is that straightforward, why do some customers just miss out?

Just recently, I was faced with the pained expression of a Jerusalem-based customer, who has really gone through a rough patch. That said, I threw out a couple of seemingly innocuous questions, which were designed to ram home the extent of his dire situation.

• What had he done to date?
• What specifically did he intend to do?

The fact was that despite vague commitments, vary little had moved in his business over the past months. There had been a few cosmetic alterations and some small additions to the purchasing policy, but very little more than that.

As for future moves, the client muttered about swopping premises. So, when I told him to just do it, he merely sighed. And when I asked him more sympathetically if such a policy would truly make the difference and how, I was greeted with more silence.

The sad fact is that this person neither wants to change nor is capable of changing under present circumstances. Defeated by a combination of his own surroundings and those of the market place, it is most unlikely that something new and creative can emerge from our discussions. The ‘olympic flame’ of perspection required has been reduced to glimp flinders.

Whenever I take on a new mentoring client, after an initial mapping session, I ask them if they are prepared to change and if they realise what it takes. Not everybody is able to be truthful enough with themselves.