Do You Need A Mentor In Business?

Why would anyone want to start a business? It’s all hard work with long hours, and it’s full of challenges, and there’s no safety net either – failure means you stop earning money, and that can be devastating. Plus, if you have employees to think about, you’ll realize there’s a lot of responsibility as well – it’s their jobs and lives you hold in your hands, and every decision is a big one (even if it’s technically not). Yet despite all of this, many people do choose to start their own business because, along with the challenges and potential pitfalls, there are many benefits. People like not having a boss to answer to, following a dream, having control, and potentially making more money than if you worked for someone else. But given the complications, you might ask, “Do you need a mentor in business?”

If you do decide that starting a business is the right thing for you to do, there’s one thing you might want to consider adding to your must-have items – a mentor. A mentor can be massively important and helpful, and here are some of the reasons why.

Photo by Christina Morillo

Networking Opportunities

When you run a business, you’ll need to know a lot of people. Depending on the sector you’re working in, and what it is you do, you might need to know suppliers, partners, manufacturers, marketers, and much more. This is why networking is such a crucial thing for all entrepreneurs to do. The only problem is it takes a lot of time and effort, and nurturing these vital relationships isn’t easy.

With a mentor, you’ll find that doors to opportunity open a lot more easily, and you’ll be able to reach potential partners, valuable contacts, and opportunities you might not have had access to otherwise. If you want success, you can’t go it alone, and with a mentor, you can speed up the process, thanks to networking.

Objective Feedback

It’s not an easy task if you try to look at your business in an entirely objective way to see what might be working and what isn’t. Because you’ve worked so hard on building the business, you’re bound to be more subjective than you should be, and although it’s understandable, it’s not helpful.

Your mentor won’t have this problem, and they’ll be able to be a lot more objective. Someone like Dee Agarwal, who knows what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur, would be able to give you honest and objective feedback. They’ll be able to show you what you’re missing and point out where you might have blind spots. This kind of constructive criticism will help you make better decisions and move your business forward.

Accountability

When you’re a business owner, there’s a lot to do and so much to think about that sometimes it can get confusing, or you might just stop doing any of it and let the business go in whatever way it wants to.

That’s not good for you, and it’s not good for the business, but when you have a mentor, this is unlikely to happen because you’ll need to be accountable to them. They’ll want regular check-ins about how you’re doing, and they’ll want you to reach certain goals each time they speak to you. If you’re not putting in the hard work, they’ll know, and that’s something that should keep you moving forward.