Business mentors when starting your own business.
Starting your own business is generally never easy but it can be well worth the effort in the end.
It takes time and experience to learn to make wise business decisions. Its very hard to do it on your own.
It helps to meet with those that have walked this path before, they can help to give new ideas and perspectives and encouragement when thing don't always work out as planned.
Also, having someone to mentor you or a group to discuss things with can help one to be more accountable for commitments and have others to council with to solve challenges.
When counselling with others its not only important to learn from them but also to commit to act on what we learn. "Talk shopping" is not very helpful if it does not result in firm resolutions and commitments to put into practice the possible solutions that have been derived during the discussions. Making plans for how we will implement and account for the resolutions made also makes it more likely that we will act.
It is only in implementing activities that change can occur and chances of success improve. Good intentions are great but get us nowhere if they are not implemented.
Making commitments to others and planning to be accountable to them for those commitment helps us to overcome the inertia we all experience when faced with change.
Its important to divide commitments and activities into realistic "bite size" chunks that are achievable. This helps us to avoid the discouragement that often ensues from being overburdened, stretched too far, or disappointed by setting ourselves up for failure.
Business has enough of its own challenges without us shooting ourselves in the foot.
Those who run businesses in your area are more familiar with local economic conditions and are likely to have faced and overcome challenges you are likely to experience.
They can be a greater resource in this regard than generalized courses.
Always keep the focus on the customer. People tend to ask their friends, even if they are not their potential customers.
In the end the only thing that matters is to get an fast product market fit. Means that your product delivers value for a certain group of customer.
This in order enables you to get in the PULL position. In other words the market wants your product/service and you do not have to PUSH it into the market - which is quite more tricky.
Good informative post . To start own business is difficult but if you work hard and with patience then can achieve goals and happiness
"It is only in implementing activities that change can occur and chances of success improve. Good intentions are great but get us nowhere if they are not implemented." -----> this is going to become my new mantra.
All of this advice is excellent. I am trying to get off the ground with some freelancing and various other projects. I need realism - it helps!! Thanks for this post, just wanted to tell you I appreciate it!
I agree with this. Having a mentor is like having the answers to the homework when you get stuck.
And, like having a friend who you can rant to who you KNOW will be honest, who will smack you with the truth when you most need it even if you don't want it! :D I haven't had a true business mentor. Sigh. I had a mentor who I really looked up to for years when I took Karate every single week, my Shihan. He did own his own business so I picked up many things from him. I think I need a mentor again, lol.
In his book poor dad rich dad Robert Turu Kiyosaki a fourth generation Japanese and one of the most respected enterpreneurs and authors says he learned business from a person he called his rich dad,who was not actually his father.His real father was broke and didn't have any business ideas...You are right Also focusing on one goal and instead of putting all eggs in one basket/diversifying you should focus on your goals and archieve it,please share more of your light
That's what they say, the hardest part of any journey is to "Begin". I would love to have my own business I can call my Legacy someday and I know that won't be very easy.
Great post @sme ,in the begining stages of a startup, keeping your expenses low is the key to longevity,actually u dont need a huge elaborate office in the heart of your city or a fully a centered meal threee times a day
yeah. sometimes we need a mentor to succeed. i did start various businesses 3 years back and faced multiple challenges. in 2014, i did start the bee hive business and then failed due to lack of market, i then followed with soap making, but could not compete with the big companies. i then went to look for a mentor, this man is an indian business man and ice scream business maker. after telling him all my failures, he just ask me one question, '' What do you know and what are you passionate about?'' I then replied, ''I'm just from the village and i know farming and passionate about planting cabbages and tomatoes''. he then told me go and start planting cabbages and tomatoes'' honestly, i was confused caused i wanted something big and clean business. after 3 month, with no other choice than planting my cabbages and tomatoes, friend you can not know how i did made my money. i'm now a proud farmer and even pay my university fees from there
Great example, thanks for sharing.
you are welcome. I've actually started a project of translating Steemit in Swahili language. most people do not use English as their first language. i think this project will attract more people from east, south-east and central africa
What I find helpful is finding mentors for the exact thing you are trying to do. This may mean you need a few different mentors:
And so on. It's SO IMPORTANT to find people who have walked the path you're trying to walk.
~ Kevin
If you need a mentor for your business just don't do it.
-Elon Musk
That is perhaps true if you are Elon Musk, I think the rest of us may do better with a little help.
Ah! The exact truth, business has its share of problems and why do we have to import more problems? Rather we focus our energies in accomplishing deals that just sit there to make castles in the air.
Thanks, @sme for such an insightful post on business mentors because it is these mentors who can be of help at the initial stages of a business or may be in the future as well.