How Can a Business Mentor ACTUALLY Help Your SME?

For Small Business owners to become successful, they often will need assistance from others who have an intimate knowledge of how business works. Many small business owners try to get that information online and from business classes. While these can be helpful on their own, they are more helpful alongside business mentoring. In a business mentoring relationship, a seasoned business owner meets with a new or potential business owner one-on-one to give advice and boost morale.

Below are examples of how a business mentor can ACTUALLY benefit your small business to learn and grow.

1 – General Questions and Advice

The biggest benefit of having a business mentor is having someone you can ask questions and get advice, quickly and easily. As a new business owner, you are likely to get more advice than you ask for from people like family members, friends and the people who own the store next door. While some of their advice may be sound, your mentor can help you sort out which you should follow while advising you on more complicated business matters that your friends or family would not know how to solve. This is because your business mentor HAS the experience to help and have been in your situation before. So, learn from their mistakes to ensure you don’t make the same.

There is an old saying “You don’t know what you don’t know” Having a one on one Mentor will always bring out knowledge that you may not even think to ask. Our Business Mentors have decades of business experience and working with Small Business Owners in many different businesses.

2 – Accountability Partner

Starting a business is difficult, and many business owners face challenges early in the process. However, many business owners go through the same types of struggles. Hearing first-hand from your mentor about their experiences will help you realize that the struggles you are going through now will prepare you to be a better businessperson in the future. Not only that, but having a business mentor in your corner also means you have an external accountability partner, there to keep you on track and liable. A business mentor will also be honest with you and not just tell you what you want to hear, instead what you need to hear.

Being a business owner can be a lonely place at times – your business Mentor will be there to speak to and listen to you on a regular basis. Keeping you accountable for what you say you will do and what you need to do. Nothing can be more important.

3 – A Different Perspective

Business mentors can help you look at problems and situations from perspectives that you would not have thought of on your own. For example, as a new business owner, you may have trouble looking at your business through the eyes of a customer, potential investor or even a critic.

Your business mentor, who has dealt with these people often, can help you understand how your business will look to these individuals. Once again, a business mentor’s experience can be invaluable to the growth and success of your own business.

4 – Expanding your network

Business mentors can put you in touch with contacts who can help you make your business more successful. The more networking you do, the more people you meet. And the more people you meet, the more people aware of your business and what you offer, potentially leading to more clients. Meeting more people also means that you are more likely to know someone who can help you solve a business issue.

For example, your business mentor may introduce you to another of their mentees, an award-winning recent college grad who is looking for an entry level position in web design. Perhaps you are looking for someone to help you design your new company’s website. Thanks to the mentor’s contact, your search for a valuable asset may have just become easier.

Your network of contacts can never be understated. The wider your network, the wider your catchment.

5 – Venting With Someone You Trust

Owning a business can be stressful and frustrating. As a business owner you’ll often need to vent with someone you trust. Business owners cannot vent to their partners, employees or customers without causing instability in the structure of the business. However, once you vent to a mentor, you can often start the process of working with the mentor to solve the cause of your frustration. For example, if lazy employees are plaguing your business, you may need to vent to your mentor before you can think positively enough about the employees in order to develop a plan to motivate them.

6 – Confidence To Make Better Decisions

Knowing that you have a credible mentor to turn to can give you confidence when facing difficult business situations. Similarly, good mentors will praise you when you have made good decisions. Praise can enable you to see yourself as a wise and experienced business person. Seeing yourself confidently this way will help you stand your ground when you must defend or stand by your business decisions.

Conclusion

Overall, a business mentor is an investment into your business which you won’t regret. Stress less, increase productivity and gain expert insights with the experienced business mentors at MKS Group. With over 35 years of experience mentoring and improving small businesses, you are in safe reliable hands when teaming up with the experts at MKS Group.

Contact the team to learn more…Today (03) 9374 8400.