Mentor matching for Melbourne business owners
Business Mentors
Melbourne
Melbourne businesses come in all shapes. Manufacturing operations that have been running for two generations. Professional services firms that have outgrown the way they were set up. Family companies where the next chapter isn't yet clear. What they have in common is an owner who'd benefit from talking regularly with someone who has personally been where they are. Finding that person is what this service does.
Why Melbourne business owners use this service
- Private search run by a senior search professional, not a directory or an algorithm
- Three vetted Melbourne-based mentors presented per shortlist
- Shortlist fallback built into the engagement letter from the start
- Mentor bills you directly. No commission taken from mentors.
- The first call costs nothing
Talk to John directly
A 15 to 30 minute call to find out whether the model suits your situation. Free, no obligation.
Thanks. John has your details.
He'll call you back within one business day. If it's urgent, ring 0407 900 234.
Why this works
A search professional runs the matching, not an algorithm
The brief is taken seriously
Thirty years of executive search means John knows how to take a brief. Not a form you fill in online, not a category you tick. A proper conversation that turns what you think you need into a document a search can actually run against.
Melbourne mentors, sourced for your brief
The shortlist is three Melbourne-based mentors as standard, each with operating experience that connects directly to what your brief calls for. For a specialist brief with a narrow field of suitable people in Melbourne, the shortlist may be two. If the first mentor isn't the right fit within the early sessions of the engagement, you move to another from the same shortlist without paying again.
Clean financial arrangement
The engagement fee goes to Managers & Directors for running the search. The mentor's session fees go directly to the mentor. The two are completely separate and we take nothing from the mentor side of the arrangement.
What kinds of mentor we match
Eight common categories, and the briefs that don't fit a category
Melbourne's business market is older and more varied than most. There are manufacturers here whose businesses predate their owners' careers, family companies carrying decades of accumulated complexity, and professional services firms that built strong reputations in a contained market and are now working out what the next stage looks like. The eight categories below reflect the most common reasons Melbourne owners come looking for a mentor. Most find their situation somewhere in the list. Some sit between two categories or outside all of them. The first call is where we work that out.
Sales and growth
Revenue that's plateaued, a pipeline that depends too heavily on the owner, pricing that hasn't kept pace with the business's actual value.
Learn more about sales and growth mentorsFinance and cash flow
Working capital that's harder to manage than it used to be, margins that move without obvious reason, cash that doesn't match the profit the accounts are showing.
Learn more about finance and cash flow mentorsOperations and delivery
The gap between what the business promises and what it consistently delivers, bottlenecks that keep moving but never quite go away.
Learn more about operations and delivery mentorsPeople and leadership
A team that functions when the owner is present and struggles when they're not, performance conversations that keep getting deferred.
Learn more about people and leadership mentorsFounder bottleneck and delegation
The business runs through one person's judgement and availability, and that's becoming the ceiling on what it can do.
Learn more about founder bottleneck and delegation mentorsSuccession, exit and ownership transition
A sale being considered, a generational handover being planned, a partner arrangement that needs restructuring.
Learn more about succession, exit and ownership transition mentorsGovernance and board-level
A business that has outgrown informal decision-making and needs a proper structure around it before the next stage.
Learn more about governance and board-level mentorsGeneral business mentor
A senior operator as a regular sounding board across whatever the business is working through.
Learn more about general business mentorsNot on this list? Bring it to the first call. The search is built around your actual situation, not a fixed set of offerings.
See the full category descriptions →
About John Morrow
A search professional behind every Melbourne match
John Morrow has been running executive search and mentor placement for owner-led businesses since he founded Managers & Directors in 1998. The private-search method he uses for every Melbourne brief is the same one he has applied to executive search for three decades. It is not a matching platform. It is not a panel of available mentors. It is a search run by an experienced person against a brief that has been properly built.
John takes every Melbourne brief personally, builds every shortlist personally, and makes every introduction personally. Once the mentor and client are connected, he steps back. The mentoring relationship runs directly between the two of them.
GAICD
Graduate, Australian Institute of Company Directors
GIA
Governance Institute of Australia, Governance and Risk
30 years
Search and recruitment for owner-led businesses
Founder
Managers & Directors Pty Ltd, established 1998
How the search works
Four steps from call to placement
Most engagements move from first call to mentor in the room within two to four weeks. Briefs that draw from mentors already in the Melbourne pool tend to move faster. Briefs that require fresh sourcing take a little longer. The full process is on the How it works page.
The first call.
Free, 15 to 30 minutes. John listens to the situation, asks the questions that turn it into a brief, and tells you honestly whether the model is the right fit.
The brief.
John writes the brief and sends it for your confirmation. Once you confirm it by email, it becomes the document every mentor is measured against.
The shortlist.
Three vetted Melbourne-based mentors presented in a written pack, with John's view on which is the strongest fit and why. You decide who to meet.
The placement.
You choose the mentor. John makes the introduction. The mentor sends their engagement letter and invoices you directly. John steps out.
Fees
Two costs, clearly separated
The engagement fee is paid to Managers & Directors for the search, the brief, and the shortlist. Standard Match starts at $4,500 plus GST. Half is due when the engagement letter is signed, half when the shortlist is presented. The mentor's session fees are separate, agreed directly between you and the mentor, and paid directly to the mentor. We have no financial interest in that side of the arrangement.
Standard Match
From $4,500 plus GST.
Specialist Match
Scoped at the first call.
Payment terms
50% on signing. 50% on shortlist presentation.
Shortlist fallback
First three sessions. No further engagement fee.
Common questions
The questions most owners ask first
John listens to your situation and asks the questions that shape the brief. You hear how the model works and what an engagement actually involves. Neither of you is committed to anything at the end of it. If the model isn't the right fit, John will say so and point you toward what might be. Up to two more calls are available free of charge if the brief needs more work before you decide to engage.
It happens occasionally. Within the early sessions of the engagement, you can move to a different mentor from the original shortlist without any additional fee. The fallback is written into the engagement letter before the search begins, so it's a straightforward process rather than an awkward conversation. If none of the three on the shortlist turns out to be the right fit, the engagement letter covers how that situation is handled.
The engagement runs directly between you and the mentor. You agree the cadence, the format, and the session fee directly with them. John steps out of the billing relationship at placement and stays out. If you come back for another search at some point, the process starts fresh.
No. The engagement fee is a one-off payment for the search and shortlist. There is no retainer, no monthly fee, and no commission on mentor sessions. What you pay the mentor is between you and the mentor.
Take the next step
Ready to talk about what kind of mentor fits your business?
The first call is free and takes 15 to 30 minutes. You hear how the model works. John hears your situation. Between you, you work out whether it's worth taking the next step.
Tell us about your business
Thanks. John has your details.
He'll call you back within one business day. If it's urgent, ring 0407 900 234.