Having someone to accompany you on your business journey could be the reason you make it in the business world. When you are starting a business, you are more likely to succeed if you have a seasoned entrepreneur who is mentoring you and helping your business reach its pinnacle. Let’s see how having a mentor is valuable for your business.
Mentors Are Experienced
Mentors are usually people who have been in the market for some time, by having their own successful business or holding a high position in a reputable company. Their experience dictates that they have witnessed all different scenarios of how businesses are run and can teach you valuable lessons.
Business usually goes through a lot of turbulence, and if your mentor was able to survive these turbulences, then they would be able to help you overcome any issues that you might face. You will never find a mentors’ experience in books. Books could provide you with the knowledge necessary to overcome something or to show you how certain things are done. However, books are often discussing ideal situations in a perfect world. But our world is not perfect, and situations are never ideal, which means using someone with real-life experience goes hand in hand with information from books.
Different Perspective
Due to your lack of experience, you might have a narrow perspective on how things should be. However, mentors have seen it all, and that gives them a wide perspective on things. They can give you different angles that you can work with so that you can achieve something, or solve a problem. Receiving advice and seeing things in a different light can help you make more sound decisions that work in the long run. For instance, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook credits Steve Jobs in helping him see that to succeed his aim has to be creating something useful for people. In addition, Steve Jobs advised him to create a team that shares the same focus as Mark Zuckerberg so they can achieve more success.
Growth and Longevity
There are a lot of startups now more than it was before, but a big number of them end up failing without making it into their fifth year and sometimes not even their second. This is due to a lot of reasons such as the tough competition that exists in the market today, as well as many of these businesses are a one-man business. According to experts from Gro.team having a mentor to collaborate with and share ideas can help the business overcome competition. Collaborating can help you evolve and grow, according to a statistic 70% of businesses that have a mentor last longer than five years. It’s a no brainer that using the expertise of someone who lasted that long, will also help you last for long.
Networking
Networking is when you interact with others in the same field or a related field, and exchange ideas together. Networking is very important for businesses as it contributes to your growth. Sharing your ideas with other people can give you better ideas regarding how to run your own business. It makes you open your mind to new ideas, and spread awareness of your business.
Having been in the market for some time can create a big circle of contacts. Therefore, mentors can provide you with valuable contacts, of people that their services prove valuable in the future or people whose skills are needed to help solve a current problem.
Increase EQ
Emotional intelligence is vital when you are making decisions concerning your business. Entrepreneurs are often driven by passion and emotion when they are running their business, which might hinder their ability in making rational decisions when faced with an obstacle. Lacking the proper emotional control could lead to losing motivation when something doesn’t go as planned, or making rushed decisions that could lead to devastating results. However, having mentors can ground you, and guide you through making a decision that isn’t influenced by emotions. Mentors also provide encouragement that would incentivize you in fixing a problem you are facing.
A lot of entrepreneurs miss the opportunity of using a mentor to guide them in running their business. Many successful entrepreneurs have reached where they are with the help of a mentor. For instance, Mark Zuckerberg had Steve Jobs as his mentor, and Bill Gates who is the richest man in the world, wouldn’t have become as successful if not for the guidance of Warren Buffet. That’s why having to use the experience of those who’ve been there and done that is a valuable business decision.
