With over thirty years of business experience, Georgina Lester is a personal and business coach, writer, business and marketing mentor specialising in helping small businesses develop their brand, find their unique stories and master the art of online marketing both locally and internationally. Here she talks about mentoring and how much it can aid the success of your business.
It doesn’t matter how old we are or how long we have been in business, we can never ever know it all. If we are lucky enough, we will be inspired and educated by the amazing wisdom of the many successful entrepreneurs who have walked the path long before us. Their expertise and confidence can help us to navigate our way through the complex and at times confusing maze of running our own enterprise.
There is nothing like bearing the scars of having done battle with whatever demons we face to prove that we can survive anything. They teach us the painful lessons of loss, failure and untold stress and heartache.
If we can fast-track these experiences then just maybe we can get through unscathed. A fairy godmother in the guise of ‘one-who-has-done-it-all-before’ can weave magic into our working life and if we are lucky, a bit of wand waving can take a great deal of the pain away.
Start-ups, growth businesses or ones we hope to sell up so we can move on or retire, can all benefit from tapping into the age-old wisdom of good old fashioned experience can be invaluable. Their expertise can not only save us money but also make us more money too. Just as importantly they can help us save time and be much more efficient at getting great results. Its the difference between doing ok and being phenomenal. The golden nugget of all of them though is the confidence and reassurance that we are doing the right thing and making the best decisions.
To get the most out of the relationship, there are a few things that we need to consider too. Business mentoring is a two way deal. They need to get something out of mentoring you and what that something is will vary from mentor to mentor.
We don’t just need any old mentor though, anyone can wear a badge or produce a business card. We need GREAT mentors. Choosing the right one is vital.
A great mentor will understand both the professional and personal aspects of being in business. They know full well what it is like when things get really tough and we feel we want give up completely. Chances are they have been through bad patches more than once and have a few tricks and coping strategies that can keep things going.
They act as as mirror and magnifying glass helping us to look at things from the outside in. They have the uncanny knack of also putting us at the other end of the telescope to give us a completely different view. They will ask questions, throw curve balls at us and keep us on our toes. They will help us grow our businesses but our own selves too and the best are worth your retirement fund so choose them well. Above all, they are ON OUR SIDE having as much of a desire to see us succeed as we do.
Recommended reading “The Little Book of Mentoring” a free e-book by William Buist for additional insights into choosing and working with mentors.
To download the book visit:
http://bit.ly/Abelard-LBM
www.business-mentor.biz
07971 854441
georgina@georgina-lester.com