The biggest benefit of having a business mentor is having someone you can ask questions and get advice from. As a new business owner, you're likely to get more advice than you ask for from people like family, friends, and the owners of the store next door. While some of their advice may be solid, your mentor can help you decide which ones you should follow and, at the same time, advise you on more complicated business issues that your friends or family wouldn't know how to resolve. Our Mentoring Advisor, Andy Hall, Explains the Top 5 Benefits of Having a Business Mentor.
When we ask a client “Why do you want a mentor? and “How would it benefit you? There are a lot of different answers. Everyone has their individual challenges and no two people are the same. This is why mentors relate to a person and not to a company. Motivation is the key to taking action.
A mentor may question how their mentee spends their time and why they do so. By being challenged and held accountable to a respected influence, learners are highly motivated and answer the big questions they often avoid. Mentors love to share their experience. I've met hundreds of mentors and it's almost impossible not to be inspired by what they've achieved.
Having a mentor or coach set challenges and goals for you can motivate and create volition. Hearing stories about what your mentor has done in your career and in your life can provide the spark. Mentors love to share their experiences and that's why they tend to be mentors in the first place. Imagine having coffee with your business idol, what would you ask him? Fascinated by the psychology of decision makers, he is inspired by business leaders, entrepreneurs and sales legends, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, marketing gurus Seth Godin and Gary Veynerchuk.
He is especially motivated by helping people with serious business aspirations to grow and develop. As an experienced person, your business mentor is there to exchange ideas. Mentors love to open up and share stories from their own business experiences, which can often inspire new ideas or alter the way they think, helping to bring innovation to life. As an apprentice, you can benefit from having a mentor if you're trying to start a new business or if you're looking to grow a more established one.
Your mentor can offer advice, support, and guidance, which can help you improve your problem solving skills and develop leadership skills. You can share ideas and problems with your mentor and they can act as a sounding board to help you make more confident decisions. Your business mentor, who has dealt with these people often, can help you understand what your business will look like for these people. For example, if your company is full of lazy employees, you might need to vent to your mentor before you can think positively enough about employees to develop a plan that motivates them.
Business mentors can connect you with contacts who can help you make your business more successful. Maintaining a relationship with a business mentor may be the most important step you take to build your company. And the more people you meet, the more likely you are to have someone on your work list who can help you solve business problems. Business owners can't vent to their partners, employees, or customers without causing instability in the company's structure.
For example, if your employees constantly complain that they don't understand project instructions, your business mentor can work with you to help improve the way you communicate with your staff. Ask a lot of successful business owners and entrepreneurs who their influencers are—almost everyone will describe a mentor. However, a dedicated business mentor with experience in your field can have the biggest impact on your business growth. Your business mentor will be someone who knows your industry thoroughly and who probably has a network of long-established contacts whose presentation could be mutually beneficial for both you and the mentor.
Successful future business owners need the help of others who have a thorough understanding of how businesses work. For example, as a new business owner, you might have trouble seeing your business through the eyes of a customer, potential investor, or government official. Business mentors can help you see problems and situations from perspectives you wouldn't have imagined on your own. To help you overcome these uncertain times, the non-profit movement Be the Business has designed a 12-week, government-funded rapid response mentoring program, designed with business recovery in mind.
Mentoring provides opportunities for personal development and a host of other benefits for both mentors and mentees. .
