When we talk about finding the right mentor, what exactly do we mean?
Statistics have shown that the ratio of entrepreneurs who have succeeded in the first five years of their business had mentors who guided them. This has led to the debate among budding entrepreneurs on whether having a mentor is advisable and even if it advisable. What are the steps involved in finding the right one?
Before you find a mentor, you must prepare for them. Take out time to know your goals, your visions, and aspirations, also where you are headed as an entrepreneur, and how your mentor can help you get there. An average mentor would rather guide an entrepreneur who has done background work and knows what they want rather than someone who just wants to wing it.
When done with that, the next step would be to find the right mentor.
These are guidelines that can help you when searching;
Doing your Research
Take time out to research people who have the same goals and visions as you do. Study their work ethics and observe how they operate. Find out if both your goals and final destination aligns, study their work ethics and observe how they operate. figure out how the person can be of help to you in growing and succeeding.
Know the difference between a sponsor and a mentor
Some people love to sponsor entrepreneurs, give them a little token to elevate their business and help it grow. They are known as sponsors and are often short time. However, you can refer to them as mentors because they can’t give you the advice you need.
A mentor has been where you are and surpassed it, advice coming from him/her would be more applicable than that of a sponsor.
Availability and Accessibility of your mentor
This is the next thing to focus your search on, how available is your mentor? Is the person easy to reach either offline or online? These are questions you ask yourself, you need to know if the person would be accessible when you need them. Find someone who is accessible so that you can both work together on the journey.
Transparency
This is something that shouldn’t be overlooked, transparency matters. Find someone who doesn’t hide their journey process including the high and lows. Someone who wouldn’t hide their struggles from you. In doing this, it would be easier for trust to be built between both parties.
Vast knowledge in your niche.
Whoever you are picking as your mentor should have a vast knowledge of your niche/focus area. You can find these out by researching about them, go through their social media pages. Find out what they know and how well they know it because you would need all those information as it would make the entire process smoother.
Now that you know all these, the next step is to end your pitch out to whomever you select with fingers crossed.
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