How to make the most of a business mentor

What could be more fun, and potentially profitable, than bouncing your business dreams around with someone who can help turn them into reality?

I recently enlisted the help of a business mentor and am already meeting goals previously laden with dust.

My business mentor has a penchant for marketing and is reminiscent of a female Gandalf, but without the beard.

Here are some tips on finding your own business Gandalf and how to make the most of their sage wisdom.

1. What kind of business mentor do you need?

Jot down some ideas about where you are now, where you want to be and what the missing links might be. From this process, it may become clear that having a mentor from your own industry might not be the most useful step. You may be better off seeking out someone with a financial planning bent or a great networker. Or just a person in business at the level you want to be.

2. What’s your commitment?

It also helps to have a gauge on the amount of time and money you want to devote to being mentored. Not just for the first couple of meetings - we’re talking six months, maybe more. Really sink those incisors into it. If you don’t commit, it won’t work.

3. How do you find business mentors?

Find the Gandalf for you through:

State Government business mentor programs, do a Google and see what you can find in your state.

Business networking organisations.

An appropriate industry association.

Asking friends, relatives and colleagues.

4. Be clear about expectations

Once you identified potential business mentor candidates, discuss openly expectations at the start.

Will financial costs be incurred? If yes, how much?

How much time can either of you afford to commit?

What sort of advice and guidance do you need?

Who’s buying the chocolate mud cake?

5. Be clear about privacy

Chances are you will be discussing confidential aspects to your business. So before kicking off, consider signing a confidentiality agreement with your new business mentor. This document can help clarify what needs to stay private before anything commercially sensitive is shared. In short, you will both be on the same page.

6. Making arrangements

Organise in advance a regular time a place that will be convenient for both of you and conducive for focused discussion. Also discuss the best way to make contact with one other, i.e. mobile or email. Decide how often contact can be made between mentor meetings, if at all.

7. Set small, time-sensitive goals

Before wrapping up a meeting with your business mentor, be clear on what you want to achieve before you meet again. This generates motivation and keeps your business development on track.

Not sure if you need a mentor?

You might be interested to know that many of the world's most successful people have benefited from one:

Freddie Laker mentored Richard Branson
Aristotle mentored Alexander the Great
Martin Scorsese mentored Oliver Stone
Johann Christian Bach mentored Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Bobby Charlton mentored David Beckham

And, of course, Gandalf mentored Frodo. But that was some time ago.

Megan Hills is a freelance writer and editor who enjoys helping others be engaging and understood. Through her marketing, publicity and graphic design nous, she can maximise the power of what you want to communicate to the people you want to reach.

4 comments | Add your own

Great article, Megan. I have come from the corporate world to start my own business, and I maintain contact with some of my corporate mentors who have become my business mentors. I find them less useful now that I'm flying solo mainly because they are experts with corporate networking, business management systems etc. I now find it much more useful to speak regularly to someone who's running a successful micro business as they really know how to make it work when the "rubber hits the road". Joel Montgomery from Sydney, Australia
Hi Megan, great advice and can I add the suggestion that there is nothing wrong with asking for the Mentor's CV and checking a few references! Grant Hyman from Sydney | Read my articles
Megan - Thanks for the artcle. It's given me some food for thought. As part of the program I am enrolled in, I have been 'assigned' a business mentor for the next 12 months. Have yet to meet her so will be going through all of the tips to sort out if we will fit. Michelle Lee from Mareeba Far North Queensland
Great article Megan. As someone who has been a mentor in several programs I would add that the business mentor should also make some checks and set some boundaries. I found that the program co-ordinators often don't qualify the mentorees enough to make sure they are serious about their business and not just "paddling". So the first meeting should be about setting the scene for time commitments, and finding out where the mentoree is REALLY at with their business, why they are in business and what they want to achieve through mentoring. Wendy Buckingham from Dee Why, Sydney, NSW

4 comments | Add your own

Add Your comments

Preview comment

Name

Website *

Town / city and country

Email (never sold, displayed or given away)

* This will link your name to your site. So please avoid self promotion elsewhere! We delete spam, disrespectful or off-topic comments.