Make meaningful connections
Ways to access business guidance and support.
In the initial stages of your business, your friends and family might not understand if you decide to quit your job and pour your savings into your new enterprise.
You will need to be mentally resilient to have confidence in your own choices and the drive to keep going. Joining a community of other business owners who have been through similar experiences can help.
For Violet Daka, owner of Violet Bookkeeping, the biggest challenge when starting the business was finding the right support. She found a useful Facebook community of other small business owners, but quickly noticed the lack of members who could relate to the same societal challenges she faced as a black woman.
Her takeaway was that not only did she require relationships with other business owners and leaders, but she needed to find people who could relate to her unique experiences and answer her specific questions.
“Find a good and diverse community. That will carry you a long way. Find business-minded friends as they will relate to your concerns better than your non-business friends, and will give you more encouragement and support,” she said.
Finding people who are from a similar background to you, who understand your culture, community and business is wonderful. However, it’s equally important to be aware that your allies will not always look like you. The right people will always be happy to support your business.
“The right people can offer guidance, support and collaboration. Surround yourself with mentors, trusted peers and those with more expertise – they will challenge and empower you.”
As a business owner, one of the most important connections you’ll form is your relationship with your mentor. A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser.
On your entrepreneurship journey, you’ll need at least one.
One-on-one mentoring is where you receive guidance from someone with relevant experience. This person could be younger than you or less advanced in their career, but will have valuable knowledge, experience or contacts that you could benefit from.
For this type of mentoring, you might seek out another business owner who has already built a successful company and understands some of the challenges you’re facing. Alternatively, if you’re moving into an unfamiliar sector or region, you might benefit from a mentor who could provide specific insight into those areas.
If you’re looking for one-to-one mentoring, a good place to start is with your own network. Think of people you’ve worked with in the past and admired, or scan your LinkedIn contacts for someone with the experience you’re looking for.
With the right mentorship you can walk into spaces and speak the right language.
If you’re struggling to find a mentor or not sure where to start looking, mentoring programmes are the best place to start.
There are a number of free initiatives that can match your business to an experienced mentor.
Finally, you can enter a peer-to-peer arrangement where participants form mutually beneficial relationships with other business leaders with similar experience. In this arrangement, you might share everything from ideas to advice and contacts.
Participants may take turns acting as “mentor” and “mentee” or arrange sessions more fluidly. The aim is to share experiences and expertise, learn together and hold each other accountable to goals.
In short, mentoring can help you to avoid costly mistakes, accelerate your knowledge of the industry, make contacts, and achieve longevity.
Access free mentoring
Get free guidance, helpful tools and personalised one-to-one mentoring with Be the Business.
Find out more
