Friends will tell you want you want to hear but mentors will tell you what you need to hear.
In that sense, you should therefore view a mentor as an advisor and most importantly a friend.
Unlike a coach who will help you develop your generic skills, a mentor aim is to teach you what you need to do and how in specific situation.
A mentor helps an entrepreneur fill an experienced gap.
Most entrepreneurs view mentors as someone who is older and has more experience and therefore takes time to personally give guidance, advice and takes an emotional investment into your success.
Mentoring as well as other personal development activities can help increase your values and income in business.
Before you look for a mentor, you first need to know yourself well.
You have to access both your strengths and weaknesses.
You also need to know you goals and where you want to head.
Below are some attributes you should look for when searching for a startup mentor.
1.
Should apply pragmatics to your ideas.
Most entrepreneurs have lot of ideas streaming into their minds.
Some of these ideas can easily be put into practice while others need a bit of refinement to be implemented.
A good startup mentor should have some perspective and knowledge on almost every business subject.
The mentor should be able to turn your ideas into a profitable business venture.
He/she should always encourage and motivate you that you can make it.
In case you have a business idea and you need some help to turn the idea into real profitable business, the mentor should be able to help you by applying pragmatics to your ideas.
2.
Challenges your accountability.
Most entrepreneurs tend to be driven by crisis at the moment.
Because of that, it is very easy to neglect real priorities and that is; growing the business.
A good mentor should be able to challenge your accountability and always help you to get back on track when you are not going in the right direction.
3.
Be able to extrapolate the business.
A successful entrepreneur will never allow his/her business to stand still.
To make your business grow, you need constant stream of ideas while at the same time, understanding the costs and resources required.
A good mentor should be able to use known facts at the starting point and be able to draw conclusion that can help your business expand.
4.
Should have contacts you need.
As an entrepreneur, you need to have contacts to make your business grow.
A good mentor should help your find contacts for investment, accounting, legal or equipment.
A Mentor should not only help you find contacts but should also tell you what you need to do to build and maintain your own list of contacts.
5.
Should give outside view looking in.
A mentor should know what to look for and also see what your clients see.
As an entrepreneur, it is very natural to sometimes become so immersed into the business and forget to step back and actually look from the outside.
A mentor should be able to look from the outside and help you grow your business by advising you on what you really need to do to maintain your current customers and be able to attract more.
How do you find a person who will meet all this criteria? Sometimes a startup mentor just appears naturally but you can also do your own research.
Look for a person who can be a good role model to you, someone who has the skills and personality that blends with your chemistry.