It pays to receive sound business advice. As a small business owner, you have to navigate a market riddled with daily challenges and unexpected twists, and sometimes you simply lack the knowledge or expertise to handle those effectively. Partnering with a business mentor can help you fill the gaps in your experience, giving you the confidence to handle all business problems with composure.
While finding a suitable mentor can take time, there are numerous mentoring communities you can access to find a mentor that fits your requirements and circumstances.
When to seek the services of a business mentor
Business mentors offer a wealth of business experience from across their entire careers, meaning you can benefit from their services at every stage of your business journey. Whether you are a one-person shop and are just entering the market, or you are an established venture with decades of experience, business mentors can help you navigate the unknown, complement your current skill set, and offer you answers you might not have gathered yourself.
Business owners routinely face new and unexpected challenges, made especially apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. The solutions to these problems can be elusive, and worse, facing them alone can make business owners feel like they are experiencing disproportionate disadvantages and shortcomings. This can be overwhelming, which may have serious downstream consequences for both you and the business.
Accessing the services of a business mentor can help you understand that most of the challenges you face are not unique and that solutions do exist — some of them might be simpler than they seem at first. This can help you stay composed even under the most high-pressure situations, giving you the freedom to leverage your own skills and experience to navigate a challenge and safeguard your business’s performance.
Benefits of working with a business mentor
Partnering with a business mentor can deliver numerous advantages for you and your business, including:
- Providing a fresh perspective: While business owners often have a series of proven methods and processes that work for their business, it is possible to become somewhat rigid and unable to adapt to new circumstances. A business mentor might offer a fresh outlook from a different perspective, which may enable you to see problems (and opportunities) in new, more innovative ways.
- Complementing your current skill set: You might lack some of the critical skills needed to handle specific challenges as they arise, especially new challenges you have never faced before. Business mentors often have several years of experience dealing with the full range of possible business challenges. They can help complement your existing skill set with additional competencies to help strengthen your ability and wherewithal.
- Offering qualified advice: Some business owners might not have the requisite knowledge or experience to face certain challenges, and that can make handling those problems overwhelming. Business mentors are able to share valuable advice through the prism of their successes and failures. That can help reassure new business owners and give them the confidence of knowing their challenges are not unique and that there are ways to overcome them.
- Helping you devise a strategic vision: Business mentors are not simply there to offer advice or words of wisdom. They can help you dig deeper into the detail, working with you to assess the competitive landscape and identify strategic opportunities on the horizon. They can also bring their expertise to bear by helping you craft a strategy most likely to actualize your vision and achieve your goals.
Business mentorship offerings
Business mentors are available to share their experience via a number of different mentoring models. Some of the most common include:
- One-to-one mentorship: You can partner with a single mentor in a one-to-one setting to receive personalized advice based on your unique circumstances. One-to-one relationships might help you feel more comfortable sharing your experiences openly and without fear of judgment from peers.
- Cohort training: This type of mentorship usually involves multiple individuals receiving advice and expertise from a single mentor in a classroom setting. Students in a cohort-based mentorship relationship tend to have shared qualities and experiences, meaning they do not just benefit from the experience of the mentor but also of their peers.
- Leadership development: Leadership coaches often come from business backgrounds, enabling them to leverage their experience to help train you in the art of leadership. Offered in both cohort and individualized formats, leadership development programs are specifically geared toward the qualities that undergird good leadership.
- Shadow opportunities: Some business mentors will give you the opportunity to learn by watching them handle different functions in a live setting. If you struggle giving engaging presentations, for example, they might let you sit in on one of their meetings to observe how they deliver presentations and encourage engagement.
Types of government-sponsored business mentors
The U.S. federal government funds numerous business mentoring programs whose services entrepreneurs can access based on different eligibility criteria. These include:
SCORE mentors
SCORE is a volunteer network of experienced business professionals that provide free advice to current business owners on a variety of different business areas, including financing, human resources and business planning. You can receive information from their mentors using a number of different channels, and you are free to contact your mentor whenever their perspective is needed. Visit the SCORE website to find a suitable mentor.
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
SBDCs provide a more robust form of advising. Designed for small businesses and pre-venture entrepreneurs, SBDC programs offer highly focused advice and counseling services that are customized to fit the exact needs of the business.
They cover a comprehensive range of critical business functions, including strategy, operations and capital procurement, to deliver a dynamic mentoring experience for your business. Visit the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) website to learn more about their offerings.
Women’s Business Centers (WBCs)
Women continue to face numerous barriers compared to men when trying to start and expand their business. Part of the Small Business Administration, Women’s Business Centers provide a range of counseling and advising services designed to help women succeed in the business world by creating fairer opportunities for success.
WBCs come complete with numerous resources designed to help women learn the skills needed to drive their business forward. Use the search tool to find your nearest WBC.
Veterans Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs)
Consisting of almost two dozen organizations, VBOCs provide counseling and assistance to veterans transitioning out of the armed services that want to start (or expand) their own businesses. VBOCs offer numerous mentorship services, including assistance transitioning into civilian life as well as support concepting and developing their business plans. Visit the SBA website to access the search tool.
Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
The MBDA is unique in that it is the only government body focusing exclusively on the development of minority business enterprises (MBEs). The MBDA offers a number of programs and services exclusive to historically marginalized minority groups, including African Americans, Asian Americans, Hasidic Jews, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The agency is a reflection of the vital contribution MBEs make to the overall performance of the U.S. economy. Visit the website to learn more about their service offerings.
Finding a business mentor online
There are numerous online databases you can use to identify suitable business mentors. In addition to the above government-sponsored programs and services, you can also find mentors using:
MicroMentorSM
A free and privately owned mentor search console, MicroMentor connects mentors with business owners across the United States. Whether you want to offer your expertise as a mentor or you are in need of a potential mentor yourself, MicroMentor is a central hub for entrepreneurs looking to exchange important business information and experience. Head over to their website to get started.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Business owners can access a wealth of business experience by becoming members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In addition to a number of other benefits, the Chamber of Commerce hosts periodic networking events and programs to connect business owners with experienced mentors in their industry.
Mentors in the Chamber of Commerce ecosystem include:
- Bank managers: It is important not to overlook the experience a bank manager possesses regarding small business management. They will take the time to learn about your business and understand your unique financial needs. They can leverage their knowledge to provide customized advice and counseling that can help your business navigate specific challenges as they arise.
- Professional consultants: Of course, you can always take your search into your own hands and find independent professional consultants online. While you will likely have to pay for these services, professional consultants provide reams of business experience that are delivered through one-to-one sessions and are tailored to your specific requirements. The depth of expertise you might gain could be worth the cost.
Anyone can benefit from using the services of a business mentor, and some of the most successful entrepreneurs in modern times have solicited the services of someone who has overcome similar obstacles before.
At Comerica Bank, we are committed to providing business owners with the financial resources, products and expertise they need to achieve their business goals. Reach out to one of our small business financial advisors today to learn how you can meet other small business owners and connect with a good mentor.
