Ron Consolino
Most small business owners should have mentors. But what exactly is a mentor and where do you find them?
A mentor is someone whose hindsight can become your foresight. Mentors have experienced many of the things you are or will be going through or have witnessed others struggle through those experiences. So, they can guide you on the best path forward to business success.
They can be objective when advising you. They will tell you what you are doing right and, more importantly, what you are doing wrong or shouldn’t be doing at all.
They can be supportive and encouraging at the right time. When you may be wondering if your business can succeed, they will hopefully have the judgment to recognize your potential and give you that little extra boost to reach your goals.
Mentors may suggest that extra substance to your business plan to make it more appealing to the bank lending officer. They may give you some other ideas for promoting your product or service that will reach your potential customers. They may suggest some record keeping procedures to reduce the chaos in your office and improve the overall productivity of your business.
Mentors are particularly useful to those just starting out. But they are also useful to business owners who are more experienced and just need to bounce ideas off someone whose judgment they respect.
Mentors can be anyone you trust. They can be friends or members of your family – but, be sure that relatives or friends are telling you what you need to hear and not just what you want to hear. A mentor may be your CPA, your banker, or anyone else who has accomplished goals that might be similar to yours or have expertise needed that you don’t have. You can find mentors at SCORE which is a nonprofit association that provides free and confidential small business mentoring and counseling.
And good mentors will arrange other advisors who may have more experience or expertise in a particular subject than they have. No one person knows all the answers. You may need a mentor for marketing and another for finance and cash flow management.
Find someone who is open to providing time and energy to help you achieve your goals; someone whom you are willing to listen to even when you might not want to.
No matter how pressured your time is in running your business, you need to carve out time to meet with your mentors and consider their suggestions. It’s just like exercise—you’ll be reluctant to get started, but you’ll be glad that you did it and will feel energized when you finish.
So, if you are on the entrepreneurial journey and you don’t currently have a mentor, find one and see your entrepreneurial dreams come true!
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Ron Consolino is a business counselor for SCORE, a non-profit association whose volunteers help start small businesses and reach new levels of success in existing businesses. Send questions or volunteer enquiries to [email protected] , call 713-773-6565, or visit www.scorehouston.org.
