Finding a mentor might seem hard but the benefit outweighs the cost. It’s a nice idea to think of launching a startup especially when everyone else wants a risk free adventure in an already established company.
Eric Ries the author of lean startup defined a startup as a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Extreme uncertainty? Yes! Who would embark on a trip to a destination he never has been before without a map or an instructor or a guide?
This is not the only reason why you need a mentor as a startup. Getting a mentor is not as tedious as people think, you can really get any desired successful business person you need as a mentor. The following are reasons why you need a mentor as a startup.
1. They’ve gone the journey you want to embark.
While it’s true that no two business journey is identical, it’s also true that one can borrow the experience of one trip into another. Most startups really don’t understand why they should have a mentor when the business plan has mapped the path, forecast the profit and drawn the success strategies. Planning and execution are different ball games.
In execution, you might discover the plan was exaggerated or timing underrated. Things don’t always go as the paper dictates, major reason business plans must be adjusted along the way. When you don’t have an experienced third eye to tell you this before starting, you might live in the false euphoria of the big profits written on paper with nothing to show after execution.
A Business plan might be a blind guess no matter how much data you’ve but it’s still very important. It takes a mentor to see the journey better. Mentoring is one of the secrets of successful Jewish businesses.
Read Also: Business Plan Archives | Business Plan
2. Mentors can Fast-track processes.
It’s one thing to read a book, it’s another thing to build a relationship with the author. Elbert Einstein once quoted “I stand taller when I stand on the shoulders of people”.
These people are mentors. Most startups thrive on trial and error, making mistakes along the way and learning but not all eventually survive the mistakes. One consolidation of failing is telling yourself that you learned a lot by failing while in actual sense the price paid for failing out weighed the price of learning the lesson should you learn it before embarking in the business.
Nobody rewards you for learning through failure unless you succeeded much later. Avoidable failures and mistakes like these are what mentors can save you from. You don’t need to learn through failure when mentors can give you deep invaluable lesson from the failures and mistakes and give you a platform to stand based on their successful achievements.
If you’re in a business rut or you’re having trouble taking your business to the next level, you need to reach out and connect with someone who can help. Chances are, it’ll not only impact your business in ways you never thought possible, but it will also make you a better person. You really need a mentor as a startup because they fast track the process indeed.
3. Mentors set you on a greater success platform.
Mentoring is as ancient as our planet. Whether in business, professional careers, religious settings or in the academic field, the results of mentoring are unspeakable. Alexander The Great was mentored by Aristotle, Plato was mentored by Socrates, Thomas Jefferson was mentored by George Wythe, Warren Buffet was mentored by Benjamin Graham, Marc Benioff was mentored by Steve Jobs, Marissa Myers is mentored by Larry Page and the list continues. Employees who are mentored seem to enjoy better raise in salary and promotion than those who don’t. The same applies to businesses.
4. They’ve mastered the feelings that come with business experience
They’ve felt the pain of failure, the joy of success, the bitterness of betrayal by team members. Also, they virtually have had highs and lows.
There are points in business pursuits when you don’t know what next to do but something must be done. Then is when a business mentor is needed the most.
Mentors have built enough emotional intelligence to stir through the turbulence that comes with the business. Events that ordinarily can break you down, with the help of a mentor can become a defining moment that builds you and your business up. The cost of having a mentor may be much but the cost of not having one is more disastrous.
5. Evaluates your business.
Why do you need a mentor as startup? A mentor might make you feel good once in a while but don’t always expect that. Your workers might not look you in the face and give you the blunt truth but a mentor always will.
Mentors are direct yet supportive, the spell out the truth and liberate you from the ecstasy of complacency when it’s obvious there’s more to be achieved.
Your mentor should be able to identify mistakes you’re making quickly and let you know in time to fix them and move forward. When trying to get your startup plane to fly there are millions of things that can go wrong. It’s not enough to figure things out on your own. You’ll need help. That’s another reason you need a mentor as a startup.
Conclusion
If you don’t have mentors yet, don’t worry – it’s not too late. You can start finding an ideal mentor today. Just be sure to use the suggestions above to find a mentor who will prove valuable to your maturation as an entrepreneur and your company’s success. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough good mentors to go around and, as entrepreneurs, we can’t function without them. I have written on How to get any successful business person as your mentor. So get out there and be proactive about finding a mentor. or contact us to link you to one who exactly meets and matches your business needs.
