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Business Mentor
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18-10-2011 9:42pm#1
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There are a lot of people passing themselves off as business mentors, but there are some great people that really engage with your business and can be great for throwing ideas and issues at. Starting a business can be very lonely and you can't often confide in people in your business or family about things that are sensitive.
You have to leverage your connections and go to every event that where there might be the potential of meeting interesting people. I just met a business mentor who seems genuinely engaging and interested. I was encouraged by a friend who he helped out in different circumstances. I also have a meeting on Friday with someone with a lot of business experience in publishing, marketing and agriculture - which is closely related to my business. Often you have to try to offer something to people, even if you can't find something, make the effort, to bring them in. If people think that you are genuine and are not just interested in getting something, they will help you more often than not, even if it is just a chat over a coffee in a quiet* cafe. These people do often want something in return, but not in a negative sense, only in the sense that them engaging with you on your business takes away from time spent on their own affairs, so getting to know them and finding a way to help them, even just by connecting them with a lead or whatever, really helps to build the relationship. These things are relationships though, and like dating or friendships, you can't expect them to fall into place miraculously. There are no formal routes that will get you a mentor, it is all about making as many connections in or around your industry or in small business networks as possible, just putting yourself out there.
This all sounds vague, but that is because it isn't easy to find the right people. My best mentor has been an old friend from when I was a teenager, who when I randomly bumped into him last summer, happened to be on his second tech start-up and had recently been through all of the uncertainty and dilemmas that I was going through. So he felt he wanted to provide the support and guidance that he never got. It has taken me a year and a half of work on my business to find a small group of people who I feel I can talk to as I don't have anyone in my immediate circle that I would feel I could talk to about my particular issues - as my business is quite unusual and what works for me is anathema to most older people in business.
Just keep concentrating on your business, networking and talking to people as much as possible. Learn about other people as much as possible and every person who you talk to will likely be able to put you onto two or three individuals who might be able to help you out.
Don't pay anyone until you have built a relationship with them over a couple of months and they have shown themselves to be able to provide you with valuable insights. Paid mentorship causes conflicts of interests so you have to be confident of the person's genuine intent.
Read the financial times on the weekend, there is an entrepreneurship section where one guy, every week, talks about different elements of mentorship.
Good Luck OP
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