Did you know that dozens of small businesses close every month? As an entrepreneur, you need to be aware of how easy it is for your company to run into issues and close. Therefore, you need to be equally aware of how important it is to look for help. Don't try and do everything on your own; it can be beneficial to reach out and seek guidance from others.
You can get advice from plenty of people, but, a business mentor could be the ideal person to help you out. The wisdom they offer can help you steer your ship in the right direction and ensure you don't sink to the bottom of the ocean with all the other failed small businesses.
With that in mind, here's how you can benefit from having a business mentor:
Gain valuable experience
As a small business entrepreneur, the chances are you have limited experience with the ins and outs of running a business. In fact, a lot of you are probably venturing out on your first ever experience as a business owner!
Consequently, you have no experience to call upon. The benefit of a business mentor is that they've been there and done it. They have experience managing businesses and growing small companies into bigger organisations. The main reason they became mentors was probably that they have so much experience to share with other entrepreneurs!
As a result, you can learn from their history. They'll tell you about any mistakes they made, so you know how to avoid them. They'll tell you about what they did in tricky situations, and you can take that advice onboard. Think about it like sitting an exam; if you've never sat the exam, it's hard for you to know what to expect. But, if you get advice from someone who's already sat the exam, knows what's on it, and passed with flying colors, then your chances of success are much higher!
See things from a new perspective
Two heads are always better than one. Why? Because with two heads you can see things from two different perspectives!
Small business entrepreneurs often get into the habit of looking at things from one specific viewpoint. It's your business, and you have your own views on how things need to pan out. Thus, all your decisions are made with this one view in mind. You neglect other perspectives because you're too focused on your own.
With a business mentor, you instantly get the benefit of a new perspective. They can see things from a completely different point of view, which provides you with a more rounded view of your company. When you discuss all the positive aspects of a decision, they can counter you with all the negatives. The result is that you end up making better decisions because you consider more than one perspective.
Improve your networking opportunities
Mentors reach their position by being excellent at their job. A business mentor is someone so good at running businesses that they want to help others do the same. As a result, think about all the different contacts they may have access to. Think about the different people in various sectors that they can reach on behalf of your business. When you consider this, it opens the door to so many fantastic networking opportunities.
If you don't already know the power of networking, then you need to understand it! Networking gives you the chance to form relationships with lots of other people. You can become friendly with other business owners, allowing you to create partnerships whereby both of your companies benefit. You learn about the best marketing agencies through networking, which lets you invest in a good marketing strategy to improve your business. The more you network, the more opportunities your business is open to.
So, when you have a mentor, you now have access to their networking pool as well. They know way more people than you so they can set you up with companies or individuals that will help your small business thrive. For example, they may point you in the direction of an excellent financial advisor who can get all your accounts in order. They might know a killer web designer that will galvanize your site and improve your brand. Or, they can simply help spread the word about your company to people in the business world!
The point is that networking is much easier when you have a mentor. Additionally, they help open more doors than if you networked on your own.
Boost your confidence as an entrepreneur
You can't be an entrepreneur if you aren't confident. If you don't have confidence in yourself, then you start questioning all of your decisions. You start wondering if you're doing the right thing, and it ends up sending you to a dark place. You second guess yourself, which slows down your decision-making process and means you're never confident enough to just make a decision. What's more, people start questioning your leadership if you don't seem confident in everything you do.
The benefit of a business mentor is that they give you a confidence boost. They help you understand that you're good at what you do and that you're making the right decisions. This goes back to the point about having new perspectives. When you get the other viewpoint from a mentor, it means you have more confidence in every decision you make. As a result, your own self-confidence grows!
A small business can't survive if it has an owner that's low on confidence. But, when you're 100% sure of your abilities and back yourself with every decision, then you thrive! Your employees will look up to you, and your entire business is much healthier.
Develop your emotional intelligence
Your emotional intelligence (EQ) refers to how you react to different situations. It's all about how you control your emotions, and how you learn to respond to other people's feelings as well. When you have high emotional intelligence, then it makes you a better entrepreneur.
Business isn't all about numbers and figures - there's a lot of emotion involved as well. An angry customer that writes a bad review can set off a chain of emotions in you. Your instinct might be to respond in anger and tell them that they're out of their mind and talking absolute rubbish. Is this a wise thing to do? Of course not; you've let your emotions get the better of you, and it will end up damaging your reputation.
The thing with emotional intelligence is that you can't just read a few books and improve it. However, emotional intelligence can be enhanced when you have a mentor. They teach you how to control your emotions, how to react to things, and how you can use other people's emotions to the advantage of your business. If you're emotionally intelligent - along with being generally smart - then it means you're in control of all aspects of your company.
All things considered, a business mentor will help you take your business to new heights. Think about it; what's the main weakness you have as a small business entrepreneur? Your lack of experience and knowledge of the business world. With a mentor, you have someone who can guide you on your journey. They'll share their knowledge, help you network, develop your skills, and open new doors for you.
We'll leave you with one final analogy; imagine trying to complete a puzzle and putting all these different pieces together all by yourself. You could well do it all, but it will take a long time and be very stressful. But, with the help of a puzzle expert, you can put these pieces together much quicker and with less stress. In essence, a business mentor is there to help you solve your puzzles and piece together a successful small business.
