Business Mentoring

Business mentoring, not to be confused with business coaching, provides any entrepreneur with valuable business experience that might otherwise be non-existent and non-applicable.

Whilst experience can be gained from newspapers, friends, employees - even industry analysts - the only way an entrepreneur can achieve constant mentoring and have a constantly accessible library of knowledge is through finding a suitable mentor.

A business mentor is an individual with considerable entrepreneurial experience that an entrepreneur may not otherwise have. They serve as a trusted confidante of prolonged periods of time, providing constant support and advice during crucial stages of business development. And quite often, they are free of charge.

Mentoring is usually a free-of-charge service, in order for the mentor to obtain something, too, for themselves. For example, to gain skills as a teacher, as a strategist, a consultant or a teacher. Or perhaps it's a simple matter of wanting to pay something back to their community at large.

But whoever mentors you, and for what reason they do it, they provide invaluable resources and numerous benefits.

1. First of all, they're pretty much your only resource. You're running your own business now, so there's no boss, no superior to turn to for any kind of direction or advice. Only yourself! Perhaps you don't even have any employees yet, with a business that's still getting off the ground. Whilst a business mentor can give you logical support, they can also offer equally valuable emotional support that's often necessary at start-up stages of a business venture.
   
2. Secondly, the individual who provides your business with mentoring services are most likely a person who have been through the same things as you. They may have started and ran their own businesses for years on end, and this kind of experience is fantastic for avoiding mistakes. They don't have to be great sources for information on latest trends, and brand new technology - there are other sources for that information. The role of the mentor is to provide you with lessons from their experience, and allow you to learn from their mistakes relatively easily and quickly.
   
3. Once again, the cost is certainly an important issue. Quite simply - it's free. That's an incredibly useful resource for a start-up business with limited capital to go splashing about with. Whilst you may get a little more out of a professional business coach, or a consultant - mentoring offers concise and relevant information, that doesn't cost thousands of dollars a month.

A business mentor can be found through many organisations, for example, SCORE (Service Corps Of Retired Executives).

A great mentor could also provide you with a new circle of networks. Retired executives have access to all their old contacts, and they quite often have substantial networks. Quite often a business mentor will allow for you to use their contacts, potentially helping you push your business forward, in regards to research and development, production, and perhaps marketing.

By using business mentoring, you can reap rewards without risk and without financial strain, which is right up the street of new entrepreneurs.

Mentoring resources

• Some interesting mentoring statistics
• Where to find mentors for your business
• SCORE organisation for business mentoring
• Also check out business coaching.