Advantages of having a mentor

Everyone benefits from the advantages of having a mentor.

If you’re sitting at your desk daydreaming about starting your own business, this is the article for you.

Sitting at your desk daydreaming about starting your own business will not get you far at all. You have to take action.

Businesses that don’t take advantages of having a mentor can often be disadvantaged and suffer in the early days of growth and prosperity.

Mentors provide guidance to some of the most successful people in the world, helping them to reach their fullest potential.

Mentors help businesses solve issues and guide them to reach their goals sooner and more efficiently.

Mentors are best used by a contractual arrangement with a prescribed time frame and remuneration package fitting for the business's needs. The success rate of a contracted mentor is much better than a mentor directly employed by a business. The vested interest in their continued employment becomes a factor.

The advantages of having a mentor will typically assist an individual in developing a plan for achieving his goals in his startup, existing business, and life.

Think of a mentor as essential for the success of both businesses and individuals.

The advantages of having a mentor are massive, and many people don’t realize what they’ve missed out on until they actually have one.

If you are thinking about getting yourself a mentor to start your business, there are a variety of options to suit different budgets, time frames, and your particular pathway to the outcomes of your vision.

Mentors are a great way to quickly speed up your skills and reach your business goals.

Mentors can help you accomplish anything from starting a business to improving your emotional intelligence. It is a significant advantage to get yourself a mentor sooner rather than later.

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Mentors can help you accomplish anything from starting a business to improving your emotional intelligence

Morris Kline, once wrote: “The most fertile source of insight is hindsight.”

It’s difficult to come up with a great business idea. The most successful startups spring directly from need, frustration, incomplete experience or the burning desire to do something better.

It’s infinitely easier to start a business while you’re employed. The trade-off? It takes longer to hit cruising altitude

Use this time to think, develop, and research as much as you can. This is a great time to consider taking the advantages of having a mentor. At least have it as part of your research.

Starting your business while you’re employed is a good option.

If you don’t have another revenue stream, it might be a good idea to start your business while you’re still employed. Don’t quit until you establish a solid base. Taking advantage of a mentor even at this embryonic stage of your startup is a wise and trusted method.

As long as you have a plan, a passion, and the desire to succeed, you are on your way.

Define your own vision of success.

No one else can or should tell you what your success will look like. Don’t waste time worrying about what your MBA friends have done, or successful buddies have done. As long as you have a plan, a passion, and the desire to succeed, you are on your way.

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Waiting can be risky

Get your start-up in front of genuine prospects as early as possible. It’s a great way to establish if they can use and pay for your product or service.

Always remember the old age adage: “Nothing happens until we make a sale”

The longer you wait around for the right thing or the right moment or the right conditions, the greater the chance of wasting your time by going in the wrong direction.

Start before you are ready. Ask questions and get feedback- keep improving. It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how many start-ups are afraid to take this leap.

You cannot start your business and sit and wait for customers to show up like sitting out the front of your house with the lemonade stand on a wintry day. Make it happen. How?

Don't wait around for customers to show up. Make it happen.

Take advantages of having a mentor. I continually harp on this for a reason. I know it works, and it works big time. It is the game-changer.

Ask questions about what people care about most and reinforce how your startup supports their busy lives.

Improve, grow, improve, grow.

Building a product or service means creating something people want and need. Simple. Build it. Modify it from the feedback and make it better.

Growth in business requires a production team and a sales & marketing team. In the early days, you need to probably be both. Continually switching back and forth between the two.

This is the most valuable time of your business life. This is where you will draw inspiration to write your book someday from your amazing experiences. All your successes and failures. It will not seem humorous at the time, but trust me, it will be. The serious stressful situations will become funny memories. You will look back and have a good laugh.

The serious stressful situations will become funny memories. You will look back and have a good laugh.

Right from the start, take advantages of having a mentor. The mentor you share these experiences with will be a friend and confidant for life. Trust me. I know this firsthand.

If you’re you are self-funded, backed by VCs, private equity or your grandmother, I don’t care. The dollar you get from real customers is a dollar you have truly earned.

When to get help

You can endure so much. This is a critical point. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. We can read this two ways. You can give up and get out. Take what you can and live to fight another day or you can get help. Delegate. Of course, this comes down to economics. If you go through this process alone, it will eat you up and you are 90% sure to make the wrong decision. It might take some time to prove this right, but you will find it is correct.

The answer? You know what I’m going to say.

Take the ADVANTAGES OF HAVING A MENTOR.

Share your game plan with your mentor. You will find this is the vital pivotal point for your future success. Talk it through. Get the vision lined up and in sync with your business goals. Take stock of exactly where you are. This will be an ah-ah moment. Take my word.

Albert Einstein once said: “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.”

These words are so important when you are experiencing growth. Remember - there is a fine line between growth and bankruptcy.

For those who currently feel stuck, with frustrating issues, I know who you are. When you are in a situation like this, a mentor can make the world of difference.

Mentors have a way of identifying when you are lying to yourself and pointing out limiting beliefs that keep you back from achieving your dreams. A good mentor will guide you to your limits and will help you grow and get what you really want out of your business. How do you know you have the right mentor? A good mentor will never let that thought enter your mind. Gold.

While your mentor is not your friend, so to speak. Your mentor will stand with you and support you and help you succeed.

When looking for a mentor, be prepared to interview a number and review their background and experience. Finding the right mentor is the very first step in changing your business life.

The right mentor will be your biggest advocate.

While your mentor is not your friend, so to speak. Your mentor will stand with you and support you and help you succeed. Your mentor will become a friend, a friend for life.

The world of business is littered with this combination of entrepreneurs and mentors who have gone on the journey and remained friends, trusted friends till the end.

The right mentor will hold you accountable and challenge you in ways that may feel uncomfortable. However, with their support, you will grow more than you think is possible.

A great mentor will never tell you what to do or offer advice. Instead, your mentor will help you identify your options and come up with the best choices based on your goals and what you want to achieve.

There are many interesting statistics to be found purporting to show results on ROI by taking advantage of having a mentor. Here is one study of the Fortune 500 telecommunications companies, conducted by MatrixGlobal, which showed that executive coaching (a new age name for a mentor) resulted in a 529% ROI. Yes, I get it. It is a qualified, specific industry coach. My point is this number is not too far from my statistics over the years of having my mentor.

Stats can show what you want them to show. It’s only in real time you get a true number for the ROI. Everyone will be different, but I’ll bet they will all be over 200% ROI.

If this is not proof enough, some of the most famous people on the planet have used life coaches and mentors, such as Oprah, Bill Gates and millions more. Bill Gates put it best when he said: “Everyone needs a mentor. We all need people to give us feedback. That’s how we improve.”