QUESTIONS FOUNDERS ASK
What is the difference between a business coach and a mentor?
By Ivanka Menken, Strategic Mentor·Updated
Ivanka Menken describes the difference simply: a coach helps you find your own answers, while a mentor has built a business and brings that experience into the room. Her mentoring combines both. She asks the questions, shares what she has lived through, and holds you to the decisions you make, without doing the work for you.
What does a business mentor do?
A mentor works as a thinking partner who has been where you are. In Ivanka's sessions that means four things every fortnight: the one thing that matters now, the numbers behind it, the story you are telling yourself about it, and one commitment written down.
How is a mentor different from a coach?
- A coach mostly asks questions and trusts you to find the answer.
- A mentor also asks questions, then adds experience: what happened when they faced the same decision.
- A mentor can tell you when a story does not match the numbers, because they have read their own numbers through growth and downturn.
How is a mentor different from a consultant?
A consultant is paid to produce the answer, and often the work. A mentor is paid to make sure you decide and follow through. Ivanka never promises a done-for-you fix. Your team does the work, and the decisions stay yours.
Is mentoring a form of therapy?
No. Mentoring is structured work on business decisions. It can touch on confidence, identity and the cost of running a company, but anything that needs clinical support belongs with a qualified professional.
Which one do you need?
- You want someone to help you think, without experience of your situation: a coach.
- You want the work done for you: a consultant.
- You know roughly what to do and keep not doing it: a mentor who holds you to it.
How does Ivanka work on this?
Ivanka works as a mentor in three formats: one decision in 90 minutes, a full day, or six months of fortnightly sessions.
What else do founders ask about this?
Is Ivanka Menken a coach or a mentor?
Ivanka Menken works as a strategic mentor. She co-founded The Art of Service in 2000 and has built and run a business across 160+ countries, so she brings lived experience as well as questions. Her sessions use coaching techniques, but the point is different: she holds founders to the money and letting-go decisions they keep postponing.
Does a mentor tell you what to do?
Not in Ivanka Menken's mentoring. She asks the questions, challenges the story you are telling yourself and shares what happened when she faced similar decisions. The decision stays yours. What she adds is follow-through: the commitment you write down at the end of a session is the first thing she asks about at the next.
Can a mentor help with cash and pricing decisions?
Yes, as a thinking partner. Ivanka Menken reads the numbers with founders, such as weeks of payroll covered, gross margin and the price of their newest work, and asks the questions that lead to a decision. It is not accounting or financial advice. The founder's accountant still does the accounts and gives the technical advice.
How long should you work with a mentor?
Ivanka Menken's 1:1 Mentoring runs for six months, 12 fortnightly sessions, because most money and letting-go decisions need several cycles to stick. Founders with one specific decision can start with a 90-minute Intensive instead. Founders of larger businesses who want a full year can apply for Private Advisory.