You’re an experienced entrepreneur. What are the benefits of having a mentor?

A mentor shares their professional experience and can help you navigate company politics as well as the stakeholder environment with greater clarity and success.

Mentors are people who can share their experience, discuss issues and give advice. Any one can benefit from a mentor-but understand the difference between a mentor and a coach. A mentor is similar to having an experienced guide to give you directions to the road they have also taken. A coach will work with you to develop your own route and you will choose your direction based on your own decisions of where you wish to end up. In business, I recommend having both. The right individuals can have a huge impact on your successes both personally and professionally.

Being an entrepreneur and being on a job, I have experienced the benefits of having a mentor. It's important to be mentored for personal development. A capable mentor enables you to realise your true potential. There's no limit when it comes to improvement. Even Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, still works on daily self improvement. Having a mentor, you get to push yourself above and beyond the boundaries. You get disciplined and encouraged by small daily wins.

As an entrepreneur, you face many challenges throughout your entrepreneurial journey. The role of the mentor is important during all stages as each stage has its own set of issues and challenges. Talking to a mentor, who is someone trustworthy and who has been there, is always helpful for the entrepreneur who would be enlightened and advised to take new factors into consideration and to think about new solutions to the specific problems they're facing.

A decade ago, Aditya and I founded Goela School of Finance, embarking on an entrepreneurial voyage. Two years back, we sought guidance from our mentor, Vikas Jain, expecting direct answers to our challenges. However,in the process we learnt that mentorship isn't about providing solutions but ensuring we stay true to our vision. It emphasized aligning actions with long-term goals and finding answers within ourselves. Mentor won't just be a guide; he was a lighthouse, helping us navigate our path with clarity and purpose.

As one of my mentors said “Being an entrepreneur is harder then you think!” and having an experienced sounding board helps specially in the beginning of a new project.

One of the most valuable aspects of a mentor is their ability to offer an objective perspective. As an entrepreneur, you are deeply invested in your business idea. You have poured your heart, soul, and likely a significant amount of money into making it a success. This passion can be a double-edged sword; while it fuels your drive and determination, it can also cloud your judgment. A mentor can help in identifying blind spots, challenging assumptions, and spotting biases thus helping you make sound business decisions and achieving long term success.

A Mirror and a guide. I think a mentor would play two important roles. its important to have a trusted and respected mentor to tell you as it is on your face ! at the same time maintain the empathy and support needed to come out shinning at the end of a bad turn.

The mentor-mentee relationship works well when both have deep respect for each other and trust grows with each mentoring session. You should be able to raise any issues, concerns and doubts to your mentor when you know you will be heard. It gives immense strength to know my mentor is going to actively listen to me and provide suggestions to proceed further. An effective mentor gives hints and challenges the mentee to find the solutions. This is an excellent process where learning is multifold for both the mentor and mentee.

A mentor can share their insights and personal experiences to help support or bring clarity around a mentees’ challenges or potential decisions.

Support and push: A coach can help provide both support and accountability and positively push the entrepreneur forward. Having someone you are accountable to help entrepreneurs do what they need to without procrastination.

Having a mentor means that you can rely on his experience that will gladly share with you, so you won't make the mistakes that maybe your mentor went through during his entrepreneurship. It will be very useful for you to be humble and know that you do not have all the answers. This way, you will get the best out of your mentor. Your mentor can also help you networking with the apropriate people whether to explore some specific topic, or help you open doors you didn't expected. Always be grateful with your mentor, and try to learn the most out of him.

Having a mentor is invaluable. Not only have they walked the path you’re looking to go but they support you on your journey. They teach you best practices and share the mistakes they made, which allows you to move along your path quicker. They also help you celebrate your successes and accomplishments along the way. I highly recommend having a mentor for any journey you are embarking upon.

When you choose to be a mentor, you know you are in a selfless service and you give your whole heartedly and soul for your mentee to benefit from your expertise. A great mentor listens to you with double patience when you are in trouble, facing challenges or going through a rough phase. It gives courage and confidence when you have a supporting mentor who cheers you up and makes you feel you are the best, reassures you that the bad time will pass too soon just like the good time did.

People can benefit from empathy and support from another human in almost any situation, journey, or venture. It is even better if that person can provide guidance and expert advice as needed. The journey of a business venture is no exception. Thus, support and guidance from a mentor are priceless in that journey.

Despite experience, there are always uncharted territories and evolving developments. A mentor, particularly one well-versed in the latest trends, can provide invaluable insights, helping entrepreneurs navigate unexplored realms and avoid potential pitfalls. The benefit lies not just in the mentor's experience but in their ability to expedite the learning curve, enabling entrepreneurs to swiftly grasp novel concepts and industry shifts. Time is a precious commodity, and a mentor's expertise can significantly compress the trial-and-error phase, fostering quicker, more informed decision-making.

A role model embodies what a person wants to be. Often, what one wants to be is somewhat abstract and vague, a collection of great qualities, virtues, achievements, etc. One walking, talking human who has reached that place is an easy-to-follow entity toward that goal. Of course, following is not copying but about taking inspiration and guidance from the role model.

A mentor or a coach is a great role model because the way they handle the problem has their own tools and process which everyone may not have it. Trust a mentor with their tools would help one to achieve their success in life and that mentor would be a great role model for the person.

“You can’t be what you can’t see” and when you can’t see anyone like you in particular roles or positions it’s hard to imagine yourself in them. It’s so important to seek out role models who can inspire you to try new things and give you the confidence to step into new territory

Mentors have likely encountered various challenges, setbacks, and failures throughout their own journey. By sharing their experiences, mentors can highlight the mistakes they made and the lessons they learned along the way. This allows mentees to gain valuable insights without having to personally experience the negative consequences of those mistakes. leveraging their experience and wisdom, mentors can accelerate the learning curve for mentees. Rather than relying solely on trial and error, mentees can benefit from the collective knowledge and expertise of their mentors, enabling them to progress more rapidly and achieve their goals with greater efficiency.

Having a mentor to build network is something unplayed but it’s the most important aspect. Having connections, relationships and contributors with the help of mentors takes long way. A business can be expanded with feedback’s, understanding different perspectives and listening ideas, this is Easily made available by Mentors on regular connects and updates.

When you are starting something you need to have contacts, to be seen, to make people know about you! “Alone” you can surely do. But… how long you will take? Having a mentor, he/she can connect you easily with people that can help you. Maybe part of them people that you will also help!

And this is the best reason for having a mentor - network! A mentor can help you expand your network which is a must when you want to run your business!

A mentor is someone who has already walked the path you are treading and thus understands the exact position you are in and the interventions you would need to accelerate. Thus, one of the biggest benefits of having the right mentors is access to their network. Importantly, a right mentor will also bring credibility to your startup and open up doors which usually would have been accessible only to limited few. Your mentor can make the introductions to investors, prospective partners and customers and such warm referrals are most likely attended to with a high priority.

The stronger the network around you the more resilient and courageous you can be. Whether it’s networking for business or creating a personal network, the people around you can be the difference between finding a solution or failing. Finding “your people” a tribe of like minded, supportive people who will cheer you on and hold you accountable enriches life as well as increasing your reach and potential impact

A mentor is someone who understands not just your strengths, but also your flaws and constraints and tries to put you on the path where you can maximize on your strengths while at the same time, puts you in a sufficiently discomfort zone to work on strengthening your weaknesses, thereby making you a well rounded person. They do so by sharing insights, putting you in contact with people who can complement your ideas and ways of working, introduce you to new ideas. I have had the good fortune of having mentors of different personalities, who introduced me to different perspectives, new ideas and ways of leading with and solving challenges.

Mentors provide invaluable guidance, industry knowledge, and network expansion. They keep you accountable, motivated, and foster both personal & professional growth. #entrepreneur #mentorship

A mentor can guide you what read, what to watch and what kind of book to read for development and progress. A mentor can share lots of knowledge and information to keep an entrepreneur up to date with the information and the latest trend as well.

What I most like is the feeling of “I’m not crazy”! Most of the times, we can read books, hear to podcasts, read articles etc, but there will always be a specific feeling/ situation, thing that keeps beeping in our minds. With a mentor we have that person where we can attest/ confirm/ have another perspective “live”! They not only enlighten us through the “correct” path (the most adequate book or podcast to read/hear according to our profile to unlock one belief of example) but can also share something that they can relate with our story of with that one particular situation where we are struggling with. They can even confirm that “it is normal to tell like that” and you unlock what have been blocking you for a while with a warm feeling!

Its very important to get a bird's eye view of your business and Mentor is one who could do it most effectively and effeciaently.

To put it simply and in summation of all of the above- Mentorship is like currents. The right ones will light up your life; while the wrong ones will shock you.

In my experience, having a mentor with fruit on the tree in the area you seek is like having Time Machine into the future you seek.

A mentor, aside from being a navigator, can also act as someone you entrust your own accountability with. When you set your goals, and discuss the path with a mentor, they can always help to keep your feet on the ground and eyes on the clock. They can truly help to translate ideas into actionable goals with their experience, as well as keep a tab on your progress and support you in case you are critically stuck.

All of the above can be achieved to the fullest only if the right mentor is there. It is not only about expertise but also about the compatibilty, and good mentor mentee match.

Mentors, have always helped me reinforce my thoughts and taught me to trust my instincts. Their wisdom, brutal honesty and experience as always kept me on track. Mentors come in all different shapes and sizes, so choose wisely.