Being a Business Mentor - What Does it Mean?

In the world of professional sports, even the greatest athletes have coaches. They need someone to observe their performance as well as the state of the game, competition and rules in order to maximize the athlete's ability to succeed. In the world of big business, you find successful people surrounding themselves with others that know more than they do in a particular area or subject, as well as having a solid board of directors or advisers that have experience or knowledge that are missing in the senior executive. This combination of information flowing from two directions can truly make a business leader more influential, efficient and profitable. That works well for large, public companies, but what about the entrepreneur or small business owner?

First, notice the distinction. An entrepreneur is someone that wants to scale their business. A small business owner may want growth but they may not necessarily be interested in becoming a national or global business. The owner of a small, local, one-location coffee shop may not want to become Starbucks, Peet's Coffee or Dutch Brothers. The overall goal for your business will dictate the type of mentor you need.

Second, mentoring is about personal development. Are you interested in pushing your own personal envelope by learning something new or stepping outside of your comfort zone? As a small business owner do you feel like you've done everything you can to keep your business growing? The goal for most businesses the last five years has been to do your best to hang on. That time is now past. Who do you look to for expertise, knowledge and forward-thinking? When you think about the next 3-5 years, how have you prepared yourself and your business for what is possible? Only you can answer these questions.
 

So who do you ask to be a mentor? Look for qualities that compliment or supplement your skillset. Look for a good listener, someone with a great desire to help, an understanding of your business as well as someone who will be honest with you because this relationship will be based on trust. A mentor will need to know your strengths as well as your warts.  

And you can have different mentors as your personal and business growth continue. Many folks may only be able to help you at a particular stage of your development. Be willing to assess a mentor's usefulness when you are looking for the next mountain to climb.