How to find a business mentor

Successful business owners never stop learning and growing. But experience alone sometimes isn’t enough. To truly elevate your business savvy and industry knowledge, finding a mentor can make a huge difference. A business mentor can offer advice for running your operation, connect you to a network in your industry and even provide moral support as you navigate the difficult landscape of business ownership.¹ But first, you need to find one.

Simply put, a business mentor is someone with experience in your industry who is willing and able to share guidance with you. They could be a friend, a former employer, or even someone you met through networking. What they are not is a consultant. While some mentor-mentee relationships may involve financial compensation for the mentor, not all do, and the support involved extends beyond advising business decisions. Consultants are likely to charge for their services, tend to offer more specialized advice and operate via short-term contracts rather than the long-term relationship a mentor can offer.¹

How much does a business mentor cost?

You won’t necessarily have to pay for a mentor’s guidance, although that depends on how you found them. Some business mentor programs include fees to help match you with a suitable person. This fee can be highly variable, running anywhere from $30 to $500 per month.²

Why a business mentor can help you succeed

The benefits of a business mentor can affect you, your business, and even your employees. Here are some of the ways they can help you succeed:

• Networking – Business mentors have been in the industry for a while and will likely have a network of fellow professionals in the space. From that network, you can draw further advice, learn about business partnerships and more.
• Guidance – When you’re the boss, it’s sometimes difficult to find direction or tackle unfamiliar challenges. A business mentor can provide the encouragement and advice you begin to miss when sitting at the top of the command chain, even if it’s just listening to your ideas and voicing an alternative point of view.
• Industry knowledge – One of the most valuable things a business mentor can offer you is a deep knowledge of your industry, including the paths to success and failure. A mentor can offer you the knowledge they learned from their mistakes so that you are less likely to make the same ones.
• Free support – While some mentorship programs may charge fees, many business mentors are just fellow professionals looking to help others without receiving anything in return. Considering that your alternative often involves paying consultants, business mentors may save your business a fair amount of money.¹

5 tips to help find a business mentor

Learning how to find a mentor for business pursuits can help transform you into a far more seasoned professional and turn your business into a much smoother operation. Here are five tips for finding the perfect match.

1. Consider what qualities you would like in a business mentor

   Another way to think about this is, what do you need from your mentor? Do you need technical knowledge? Connections? Moral support? Maybe even all the above? Consider the input you would like from your business mentor and look for a candidate who has the qualities to provide it. You also want to look for someone who possesses the qualities you’d like to have yourself. This is a person you’ll be following, so make sure they’re going in a direction you like.¹

2. Tap your professional network for potential mentors

   Your mentor may be someone you already know. A person who already knows you and the work you do is better situated to mentor you than someone who doesn’t, so search your network before moving on to other options.²

3. Explore local and government mentorship programs

   Entrepreneurs often create local organizations to help each other network. If you don’t find any leads here, you can tap government mentorship programs like Small Business Development Centers (SBDC).¹

4. Ask potential business mentors future-thinking questions

   Consider what you’ll talk to potential candidates about when you meet them. Build a list of questions, such as whether your current business plan looks good to them or if they think your branding is effective.¹

5. Maintain contact with potential business mentors

   Just because you choose one door doesn’t mean you should close the others. Stay in contact with people you meet during your search and keep them in mind moving forward. You never know when a connection could bear fruit.²

How to develop a strong mentor-mentee relationship

Mentor/mentee relationships are unlike many other relationships you’ll find in the working world. You are likely not offering your mentor much more than a chance to feel good about giving back, while they may offer you invaluable knowledge and advice. Developing a strong foundation is key. Here are some ways to do it:

• Be clear about what you want – You never want to find yourself in a situation where expectations are unmet, so be clear from the start about what you want to get out of this relationship.
• Set goals – Your mentor may not know how to help you without a goal in mind. Think about what you want to achieve and communicate it clearly.
• Set boundaries – You may become good friends with your mentor, but the core of your relationship is professional. With that in mind, set expectations for things like communication, ensuring you don’t overstep on your mentor’s personal time or vice versa.
• Treat it like a professional relationship – This is about more than looking good in your mentor’s eyes; it also ensures the time you spend together is productive. Stay on-task, do the things you say you’ll do and be punctual.¹

Considering how valuable expertise is in the professional world, finding someone who will share it with you for free can be a serious advantage. Countless business owners before you have benefitted from the guidance of a mentor, and many of them would be happy to pay that forward to help you grow your own business. While searching for a business mentor, you can visit the Nationwide business solutions center and better prepare for the challenges your business faces every day.