Picture yourself leaving on a journey to a far away place you've never been to before. You're not quite sure how to find this place, but you think you can ask questions of the locals along the way so you'll know when to turn.
Let me ask you: "What's the single best resource you could take with you on the journey if you had your choice?"
Would it be lots of money to buy your way to success?
Would it be a detailed map that showed you the exact way to your destination?
What would you want on your journey?
My thinking is . . . I'd want to take someone with me who knew the way exactly because he had already been there. He would know when to turn, when to stay the course, what pitfalls and detours to watch out for, and he'd know when we had arrived.
That person would be of invaluable assistance. He would give me the confidence to move forward and would be there when I had an important question like "Where do we head next?"
He would be a guide, a teacher, and a mentor.
There is no better resource to tap into when you're heading out on the journey of creating a small business.
Mentors can be found in many places: online, at the local university, in the business community, at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), or places like SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives.)
Why are mentors so valuable? It's their experience and the fact that they've been down this same road before and know what to expect in advance.
Mentors that have personal experience in the field or industry that you choose for your business will be especially helpful, but that is not necessary.
Solo business owners often prefer to do things themselves, to find their own way and blaze the trail as they go.
That's fine. But if you want to be successful and put the odds of staying in business in your favor, you would do well to find a mentor and listen carefully to his advice.
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