Hello all,

It makes sense to me that most of us likely had mentors for the craft - that is, we had books to read, barns to spend time with or teachers in a classroom to lead us.

After a recent discussion with a peer, he mentioned the importance of finding a mentor in business. I'm interested to hear about your experienced with mentors in businees. Do any of you have one? Where you able to call on them when you reached wits end? Did they help you avoid the mine field of new business?

Brock

Hi Brock,

When I started my software consulting business (which I've sold to start timberframing... another one bites the dust), I had two gentlemen who were enlisted as full time advisors. They knew the business I was in backwards & forwards and would ask simple questions that I would sometimes overlook (like - how are you going to make money off that? What's your target customer? How are you going to go to market? How are your customers 'linked' together? Kind of simple questions, but what I've found is that most mentors aren't 'smarter' than you - they just ask the questions that you're too busy (or worse) to ask yourself. On top of it, if you meet with the regularly, they can be an accountability partner who keeps you on track. One of the biggest challenges to any new Entrepreneur is how to keep focused & get things done when there' no boss hangning over you making you do something. I'd recommend starting with colleagues who understand you and who will be frank. Have lunch every two weeks. Remember, you're not looking for a friend here - sometimes you'll be annoyed at their feedback, but the end result is what matters...are they making you think about something you wouldn't have on you own. Dave