How to Find a Business Mentor

When you’re just starting out in business, you need a lot of advice and it’s OK to ask for it.  Why you might not always find the support you need from family or friends, the best way to get this help is to find a mentor.  A Small Business Administration study shows that business owners who had three or more hours of mentoring experienced higher revenues and stronger growth than those who didn’t.  While people might think of mentors as those who guided them when they were younger like a school teacher or guidance counselor, entrepreneurs shouldn’t look at it this way at all.  You are never too old to have a mentor and, in fact, it’s key in business.  A mentorship doesn’t always have to be a formal relationship.  Sometimes it can be more informal, like a friendship but either way having a role model to help you succeed in business is exceedingly important.  It always pays to find a helping hand in the workplace.  So how to find a business mentor?

First off, ask yourself what you want in a mentor.  Is it an expert who can help you with a specific business challenge?  For example, do you just need guidance on how to ask your boss for a raise or how to conduct yourself more professionally in business or are you looking to make a career move or start up your own business.  There’s nothing to big or too small in the modern business world that a mentor can’t help you with.

If you’re not up to going to networking events yet, check out your company or your University’s alumni association to see if they have mentoring programs in place.  This is often a good place to start if you are unsure where to begin.

When you’re ready, join associations of networks where you might be able to more readily find a mentor should you feel uncomfortable doing it at your place of business.  Try joining LinkedIn groups and asking for advice there.  Strike up friendships or professional business relationships with those who are active in these groups.  They might be willing to help.  You never know who is willing to offer a lending hand.

Again, LinkedIn is a great resource for finding a mentor.  Try doing an “advanced” search for people who attended your alma mater or those who are in your field of interest, whether it’s the field you currently work in or one you’re trying to break into.

Think outside the box.  Remind yourself that a mentor doesn’t always have to be older than you.  Disregard typical stereotypes of mentorships and don’t let your ego get in the way of seeking the advice you need.  Younger people might already be on the track you’re looking to hop aboard and also, they might be more willing to help.

Landing a mentor can often be hard work so think long and hard about why you need a mentor so that you can readily convey that to people you seek to be a mentor to you.  Landing a mentor calls for self-promotion.  You must be your own biggest advocate and call attention to your accomplishments to get someone’s attention.  No mentor is going to back someone whom they don’t feel has promise or isn’t a good use of their time.  Mentors want to offer guidance to those who know will soak up all the information they are willing to provide.  They don’t want to waste their time on people who they don’t “see” something in.  Show why you stand out and why you’re a “super star” in your field and why you have potential and promise.

Additionally, it might be wise to steer clear of a formal request such as writing standardized letters to people you feel might be a good mentor to you.  Have others make introductions to potential mentors for you in an informal way.  Sending out a formal request can at times be off-putting and feel “stiff” to those whom you seek to be a mentor to you.  You don’t want to make a mentor feel like it will be hard work for them.  Most mentors take on a mentee out of good will or as a chance to “pay it forward.”  Maybe they had a mentor at an earlier stage in their career as well and want to give back?

Ask for simple advice to begin with.  Don’t ask too much of a mentor right off the bat.  Get to know them well and let them get to know you before you start asking for too much.  Develop a friendship and make the mentorship fun for both yourself and the person offering you guidance.

Show a mentor how to help you.  Sometimes they might never have been a mentor before so you need to guide the relationship.  Come up with a list of questions to ask or seek out friends or colleagues who’ve used mentors in the past and ask them how they’ve approached such a relationship.

Make it fun right off the bat.  By being informal, you can make a mentor feel more at ease and more willing to help you.  Some mentors might want a more formal relationship but instead of setting up a formal business meeting, try inviting them to lunch or drinks and start up a friendship.  People are more willing to offer advice to those they feel a personal connection with.

Always show your gratitude to a mentor if you want to make sure you keep the relationship going and want to keep them interested in helping you.  Do something for them in return.  Make the relationship reciprocal and a two-way street.

Really get to know your mentor.  If they are open to being more informal, try to indeed strike up that friendship.  Ask them how they got where they are today, not just in the business world but in their personal lives as well.  Mentorships can often turn into lifelong friendships.

Listen!  Mentors might not always have the free time to give you lots of help so make the most of the time they can offer you.  Always ask your most pressing questions first and act like a sponge.  Soak up all the information you can from a mentor.  Ask not only for advice but for feedback as well.

Lastly and most importantly, always let your mentor know what you are looking for out of the relationship.  Tell them right off the bat what your main motivation is behind having a mentor and how they can help you get where you need to be.  Establishing a set of expectations on both sides of a mentor/mentee relationship is key.

So how have you found a mentor in the past and how did you maintain that relationship?  Did you use some of the advice offered today or have you approached finding a mentor in a different way?  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!  Let’s start up a conversation!

Here are some articles you might want to check out about finding a mentor in business:

“How to Find a Business Mentor”: http://www.inc.com/guides/how-to-find-a-business-mentor.html

“3 Successful Strategies to Find a Business Mentor”: http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2010/10/18/successful-strategies-business-mentor/

“Finding a Business Mentor”: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/45254

“Why Entrepreneurs Need Mentors and How to Find Them”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-farwell/business-mentors_b_1940998.html

Until next time…