Fast Track Your Growth: The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Business Mentorship

By Belle Wong
The Hartford Small Biz Ahead | Originally published July 6, 2022

As a small business owner, you already know it can be lonely at the top. Sure, you’re enjoying the many perks of entrepreneurship. And you get to call all the shots. But if you’re like most business owners, there’ll be times when you wish you had the ear—and the wisdom—of someone who’s experienced the same entrepreneurial growing pains you’re going through.

That’s where having a great business mentor can make all the difference. Eighty-six percent of CEOs surveyed in a Vistage study credit their mentors with playing a critical role in their career accomplishments. And a recent report by MentorcliQ found that 84% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs. The report also found that, on average, Fortune 500 companies that offered mentoring programs saw better profits during the COVID pandemic.

What Is Business Mentorship?

A business mentor is an experienced entrepreneur who takes a more inexperienced business owner under their wing. The best business mentors are people who have been where you’re at right now. They’ve faced similar challenges, learned from their early mistakes, and want to give back to their community by mentoring others in the earlier stages of their business.

Your business mentor isn’t the same as a business coach. You hire a business coach, for a fee, to counsel you through specific problems and issues. A business mentorship, on the other hand, is more like a business friendship. It’s a relationship that develops through time. And it’s usually free, although there are organizations that offer business mentorship programs for a fee.

Benefits of Small Business Mentorship

Your business mentor has stood in your shoes on the entrepreneurial journey. And this means they can give you access to the business experience you don’t have yet. With a good business mentor, you can:

Get emotional support. As a small business owner, you’re the one making all the big decisions that will determine whether your business succeeds or fails. The pressure is significant, and it can sometimes be difficult to bear this burden alone.

Your mentor knows how this feels. And while they can’t take the burden off your shoulders, they’re uniquely positioned to understand exactly what you’re going through.

Obtain guidance and advice. You’re going to face challenges as your business grows, and these challenges often aren’t situations where you can simply Google your way to the right resolution.

But your business mentor has most likely faced similar issues during the growth of their own business. And they can share their experience with you, guide you toward a workable solution, and give you the straight-up advice you need.

Bounce off big ideas. Entrepreneurs tend to be creative, and this creativity usually means you’re never short of ideas. But it can be difficult to determine the true potential of an idea when you’re examining its pros and cons within the echo chamber of your own mind.

Your business mentor, however, isn’t as close to your idea as you are, and this gives them the distance to see and point out any potential flaws or impracticalities.

See a fresh perspective. When you’re running a business, there are often several potential solutions to a problem. The challenge is to choose the right solution for your circumstances.

Your business mentor will have gone through their own unique journey to get to where they are. And this means they can offer a perspective that’s different from your own. Looking at a situation through a different lens can open you up to insights you might not have reached on your own.

Expand your network. As your mentoring relationship develops, you’ll gain access to your mentor’s network—and chances are, because of their years in business, this network is populated by other experienced, senior business people.

By tapping into your mentor’s network, you’ll be able to connect with the people who can help your business grow into its next stage. Whether it’s funding, or tech help, or a deal maker, your relationship with your business mentor gives you the organic means to expand your network with the meaningful connections your business needs to succeed.

The Business Mentorship Relationship

What does a good mentorship relationship look like from the inside? While it might be tempting to treat your mentor like a ready-made solution to whatever business issue you’re facing, “relationship” is the key to having a successful business mentorship.

Effective business mentorship is a two-way street. It may not seem like it, but your mentor gets as much out of the relationship as you do. While you benefit from their years of experience and supportive ear, they benefit from the opportunity to experience new challenges through you and your business and to give back to the community.

Characteristics of effective mentors and mentees

Not just anyone will be a good mentor, though…[MORE]

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To read the entire article by Belle Wong at The Hartford Small Biz Ahead website , visit: Fast Track Your Growth: The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Business Mentorship