Small Business Guide to Mentorship
What is Business Mentoring? 1) Define, 2) Benefits, 3) Advantages: a) Emotional Support, b) Guidance & Advice, c) BiG Ideas, d) fresh Perspective, e) more Customers,
4) Relationship with Mentor, 5) Characteristics, 6) Relationship, 7) Qualify
As a small business owner, you already know it can be lonely at the top. Sure, you may be enjoying the many perks of business (ie you get to call all the shots). But if you’re like most business owners, there’ll be times when you wish you had the attention and the wisdom—of someone who’s experienced the same business growing pains you’re going through.
That’s where having a GR8 Biz Mentor can make all the difference. 86 % of CEOs surveyed in a study credit their Mentors with playing a critical role in their career accomplishments. And a recent report found that 84% of medium & large companies have Mentoring programs.
What Is Business Mentorship?
A Business Mentor is an experienced biz leader who takes a more inexperienced business owner under their wing. The best Business Mentors are people who have been where you’re at right now. They’ve faced similar challenges, learned from their early mistakes, and want to give back to their community – by Mentoring others in the earlier or challenging stages of their business.
Your Business Mentor isn’t the same as a Business Coach. You hire a Business Coach – for a fee – to counsel you through specific problems & issues. A business Mentorship, on the other hand, is more like a Business Partner. It’s a relationship that can grow through time.
Responsibilities include providing you with objective feedback and encouragement. They can also help you expand your network of customers and help you set realistic goals.
Benefits of Small Biz Mentorship
Mentor has been in your shoes on their Biz journey. And this means they can share with you their business experience – that you don’t have yet. With a good Biz Mentor, you can:
Advantages of a Business Mentor.
- Get Emotional Support. As a small business owner, you’re probably the one making all the big decisions in your company that will determine whether your business succeeds or fails. The pressure is significant, and it can sometimes be difficult to bear this burden alone.
Your Mentor knows how this feels. And while they can’t take the burden off your shoulders, they’re uniquely positioned to understand exactly what you’re going through and advise you to make the best decisions.
- Obtain Guidance and Advice. You’re going to face challenges as your business grows, and these challenges often aren’t situations where you can’t simply make an easy resolution.
But your Mentor has most likely faced similar issues during the growth of their own business. They can share their experience with you, guide you toward a workable solution, and give you the best advice you need.
- Consider BiG Ideas. CEOs/President tend to be creative, and this creativity usually means you’re never short of ideas. But it can be difficult to determine the true potential of an idea when you’re examining its pros & cons within your own mind.
Your Mentor, however, isn’t as close to your idea as you are, and this gives them the distance to see and point out any potential flaws or non-feasability.
- See a fresh Perspective. When you’re running a business, there are often several potential solutions to a problem. The challenge is to choose the right solution for your circumstances.
Your Mentor will have gone thru their own unique journey to get to where they are. And this means they can offer a perspective that’s diff from your own. Looking at a situation through a different eyes, can open you up to insights you might not have reached on your own.
- Expand your Network of Customers. As your Mentoring relationship develops, you’ll gain access to your Mentor’s network—and chances are, because of their years in business, this network is populated by other experienced, senior business people.
By tapping into your Mentor’s network, you’ll be able to connect with the people who can help your business grow into its next stage. Whether it’s funding, mfg help, or prospecting, a relation-ship with your Mentor gives you the means to expand your network with the meaningful connections your business needs to succeed.
Your Mentorship Relationship
What does a good Mentorship relationship look like from the inside? While it might be tempting to treat your Mentor like a ready-made solution to whatever business issue you’re facing, a good “relationship” is the key to having a successful business Mentorship.
Effective Mentorship is a two-way street. It may not seem like it, but your Mentor gets as much out of the relationship as you do. While you benefit from their years of experience and supportive ear, they benefit from the opportunity to experience new challenges through you and your business and to give back to their community of other businesses they mentor.
Characteristics of effective Mentors & Mentee’s
Not just anyone will be a good Mentor, though. An effective Mentor has not only relevant industry expertise, but should want to share that expertise with you. And good Mentors are also good listeners who treat the people they’re Mentoring with respect.
In return, you want to embody the qualities of a good Mentee to help you get the most out of the Mentoring relationship. For example, in addition to taking charge of your own learning, a good Mentee should also have realistic expectations about what they’ll get out of the relationship. And since your Mentor is most likely spending their time to Mentor you, it’s also important to be respectful of their time.
What a good Business Mentor Relationship looks like
When you enter into a Mentorship, your goal is to build a long-term relationship that’s based on mutual trust & respect. It’s not a one-off thing; this means you and your Mentor need to meet and connect on a continual, consistent basis that works with both your personalities & schedules.
And your Mentor is there to guide you and give you advice—not tell you what to do !!! Their goal isn’t to create a “Business Plan” to follow in their footsteps. Mentee-ship is all about you learning by doing, and the key is to make your own, unique way forward, supported by your Mentor’s guidance and wisdom.
How to Qualify a Business Mentor: Experience
Peter Cikalo, CXO, Wiz4.biz
(>15 yrs, >200 Posts on “How to Grow a Biz”
BS, Electronic Engineer
ISO Biz Consultant: >30 yrs working w/ 450 Mfg Co’s
Industries: SemiCon, AeroSp, Medical, Electronic + more.
Implementing ISO 9001 – Quality Standard
Contact me at 408-833-5900
to
Discuss how I can Help you
to
GROW your BUSINESS