Mentoring undoubtedly has a very high impact on business growth. A mentor can help streamline your business development very quickly, and there’s no denying that you need one who understands your business mission and vision to foster its successful operation. Many businesses fail because their owners thought it wise to fly solo while building their business. No matter the size of your business, you’re bound for failure without a guide to help you navigate the challenges inherent in running a business, especially at the early stage. In today’s podcast, Easton Padden from Family First Life and Stephen Halasnik from Financing Solutions discuss how getting a business mentor can accelerate your business growth.
Summary
How Getting a Business Mentor Can Accelerate Your Business Growth
When you match financing with business experience, you will make a world of difference in your business. Whether you have just started or are halfway into your business, there is a high possibility that you don’t have all the knowledge to help you run your business successfully. The overwhelming activities associated with running a business day to day can make you get lost in the moment when not properly guided. Hence you need a mentor that can help redefine the operation of your business by following the right process.
Successful business owners understand the importance of mentorship while building their businesses. They know that running a successful business is a process that can be taught and learned. Having a business mentor will help reduce the chance of your business failing down the line. And it will facilitate the development of your business through improved planning, performance, and productivity. In addition, it can expand your network, which can help you identify new opportunities, ideas, and innovative solutions for your business.
What Is Business Mentoring?
Running a business can be pretty challenging, especially at the early stage when you have very limited experience. It’s ideal for you to fly solo at this stage of your business. Working with someone- a business mentor- that has successfully passed through that same journey can be a very decisive factor that can help you firmly establish your business.
That said, business mentoring means a relationship you develop with an experienced business person to help you build a successful business. Business mentors provide a range of services, from helping you figure out what to do to explore opportunities for your business growth to giving you tips on how you will build your brand.
Engaging with a business mentor requires an investment of time and money. It’s important you do your due diligence to know if engaging a mentor will help you accomplish your business goal, and if so, which business mentor will be the right fit for you.
The Importance of a Mentor for Small Business
Like every aspect of your business, mentoring is critical for its rapid growth. A mentor offers you opportunities for both your personal and business development. Learning from a professional gives you a new perspective and helps you to avoid costly mistakes that might mar the growth of your business. Moreso, tapping from the experience of a seasoned business person can make you reach the goals and objectives of your business very quickly, and provide you with a working template on which to base your decision.
In addition, it saves you the stress of building a business model from scratch. Business mentorship will help you know the right marketing strategy that has been tested and trusted. In other words, you will not keep experimenting on many numerous possible options for your marketing solutions. For example, your mentor can guide you on the best marketing strategy to use in order to generate leads and drive sales.
How to Find a Business Mentor
Finding someone who can provide advice and support when you are building your business can be difficult. If you are looking for a business mentor, the following tips can be a resourceful guide.
Reach out to your network
A good move to get a business mentor is by reaching out to the alumni network at your college. In other words, you might be able to connect with potential mentors there. Or you might also reach out to your professors if you keep in touch with them. In addition, expand your network by connecting with people in other industries to learn from their experiences.
Leverage meetup groups to grow your network
Although a great idea, it’s not enough to only reach out to those within your existing network. If you need mentorship, you might want to expand your network more. With this in mind, you should consider attending happy hour events, networking events, and speaking panels within your business niche.
Going for in-person events can be challenging and expensive. Fortunately, there are many opportunities online that you can explore. For example, Twitter and LinkedIn are great resource tools to connect with professionals and learn.
Attend events in your field
Attending events or conferences related to your business niche can help you build relationships easily with potential mentors. You should constantly research to know when these events are scheduled. Doing research into the field you are interested in and visiting companies’ websites within that field will help you know when an upcoming event interests you. When you attend this program, it would be nice to ask people for their business cards and hand out your own.
Use Score to find a mentor.
Score is a great platform that can help you start, grow, or transition your business. They can help connect you with a qualified business mentor to help you navigate the early stage of building your business. Don’t hesitate to check out Score If you want a free business mentor.
Read resourceful books
Many insightful business ideas are embedded in written material. There are great books out there that can reset your perspective and dramatically transform your business if you can implement their core teachings.
What Are Questions to Ask a Business Mentor?
Knowing the right question to ask your mentor will help you get the most from the relationship. Some of the relevant questions you might consider asking are:
- How do you encourage innovative ideas?
- How and where do you find inspiration?
- How do you balance your work and home life?
- How do you separate emotions from decision-making?
- How do you finance your business when there’s cash flow difficulty?
- How do you grow your customer base?
- Do you have any that you would recommend?
Learn About Easton Padden
Easton and his team at Family First help folks find the right insurance to protect their homes, family, and other important assets. The Family First Life Disruption brand is all about accessibility to the people that truly need these services. Many of his clients are typically underserved, mid to lower income, overlooked, and forgotten. The other core value of his organization is making sure that agents don’t just come on and survive but excel at a higher level. His group is the highest performing sales group within the entire company at Family First Life.
Learn About Financing Solutions
Financing Solutions provides an easy-to-setup unsecured business line of credit to small businesses. The small business financing product is a great cash backup plan that costs nothing to set up, nothing until used, and is inexpensive when needed. Financing Solutions is rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and 5 stars by the BBB/Google Reviews.
Unlike a traditional business bank loan, our business credit line requires no collateral or personal guarantee (except in the cases of fraud) making it an excellent alternative business financing option. Small businesses often used their line of credit for short-term expenses, working capital, to make payroll, or for a business investment especially when business cash flow is temporarily down.
Get a free, no-obligation business line of credit quote by filling out our simple 2- minute business line of credit application here.
Remember: The time to set up a credit line is when you don’t need it.
