When running a business, whether it’s your first time or fifth, you’re bound to stumble into a few obstacles down the line. No matter how much you know, or the experiences you’ve already had, having another successful business person on your side is beneficial for the business and your emotional intelligence.
What is emotional intelligence? It’s what you use to remain calm when you’ve lost a customer, or missed out on a great opportunity. Unfortunately, you won’t always be able to stay logical or rational, and when that happens your business mentor will be there to ensure that you do.
“Mentors aren’t your parents, friends, or even your more generous investors. They are business veterans whose only role is to tell you what you really need to hear about your company. Mentors do plenty of cheerleading, of course, but their real value is in the objective, unvarnished advice they can provide.”
– Businessweek.com
Wisdom Means Good Advice
As stress from your business puts more pressure on your shoulders, the ability to use your emotional intelligence becomes less likely. For the duration of your business’s life, there will be great highs and terrible lows. Though you’ll be sure to get advice from friends and loved ones, you need to be able to sort the good from the bad and the right from the wrong. As someone who has been there before, a mentor’s wisdom can aid in more ways than one.
Benefits:
- Help you sort your thoughts, advice and suggestions
- Give emotional support
- Be an outlet for extensive and valuable business knowledge
Cheap Alternative to Making Mistakes
So you didn’t raise enough capital, and have resorted to the DIY approach. While this is certainly the best, and perhaps only way to maintain your cash reserve, it leaves room for hefty and costly mistakes. Consultants can be expensive to hire, and are usually involved in a strictly professional manner. However, services such as SCORE can provide you with access to a retired executive for little to no cost at all.
Benefits:
- Provide a cheap alternative to trial and error
- Give you resources that are otherwise expensive or unavailable
Networking Opportunity
As a business owner, there is nothing more valuable than networking opportunities. You and your business can always benefit from knowing someone else in the industry. Normally this is done by attending events, having a strong presence on sites such as LinkedIn or getting in touch with previous co-workers and bosses. A business mentor can provide you with this opportunity.
Benefits:
- Familiarity with the ins and outs of meeting people and taking advantage of important relationships
- A slew of contacts for professionals in your niche
- Someone to network on your behalf, as well
There are many people that will help you along the way while you work to start and run your business. At a time when your emotional intelligence is bound to falter, the invaluable advice and opportunities that come with having a mentor for your business can’t be replaced. Do yourself a favor and find a mentor in your area.
About the Author: Sara Fletcher is interested in emotional intelligence, and how it relates to every aspect of our lives. She loves to explore psychology, business, and sports in relation to emotional intelligence training.
1 comment
Wherever I go, I always seek out mentors. They have been there before, and they know more than I do, so why not profit from their advice? For example, I'm moving out to Silicon Valley, and I'm aiming to learn as much as I can before I arrive, so I interviewed the lead sales recruiter of WePay to find out what startups are looking for in new hires.
You can check out that interview here: http://blog.blainelight.com/2012/04/how-to-get-hi…
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