Starting up at a substantial pace is the best possible thing that can happen to an entrepreneur. While this gives an entrepreneur immense happiness, there is no denial that the journey sometimes becomes quite lonely. That’s why we gave you 4 reasons why you should start looking for a cofounder.
Now, finding a cofounder is just not enough. Founders are often seen to be attending loads of meetings, raising funds, pitching at events, networking etc. While all these are critical for a new venture to gain pace, they often overlook the need of recruiting great mentors. A mentor plays an equally crucial role who can drive your startup in the right direction. They are like the backstage artists of a startup who remain hidden but without whom a startup can’t keep going.
Finding a mentor is not easy and finding the right one is even more daunting as well as challenging. This is one reason why founders get deviated and don’t concentrate on having a mentor. They also ignore the need of a mentor because they are themselves not sure about their future plans that they want to take up in future to scale up their venture. Having a mentor is crucial. They are just not our friends and advisor in the extreme situations but are also a great source to the right contacts.
These are the 7 criteria to find the correct support channel so that you can get the best advice for your startup which will help you to prevent mistakes.
1. A great mentor focuses on critical business issues
A good mentor is on who is not superfluous but is genuinely concerned about your startup. He should focus on your weakness more than the strengths. He is the pilot who holds the potential to guide and take you out of the worst situations. High competition can often lead to turmoil in business and your business may need to change its strategies quite often. This is where a mentor can be a blessing in disguise. He should have the exact idea which strategy can help and which not. So, a mentor should be very serious about what’s going on inside as well as outside. Even his/her networking skills and contacts can be a great resource in extreme situations and hence, he/she should be well versed in communicating and attracting people who can be a part of your venture in some way or the other.
2. A great mentor is a motivation bank
As mentioned earlier, a mentor is someone who is always there to back you not just in your business decisions but also when you feel low and things don’t seem to go well. Admit it! Your startup can’t always be alive and kicking. So, it is very obvious that you need someone who will understand your difficulties and will help you to regain momentum. Who can suit this role better than a mentor? In our personal life, we have our ideals or parents or friends who are always there to motivate us. A mentor takes this “avatar” in the professional life. Communication skills and clarity of mind are some of the major criteria for this and a great mentor is defined by these qualities.
3. A great mentor is a good listener
After your cofounder, it is your mentor with whom you can be most open and friendly. The relationship of a mentor and a mentee is similar to the one between a doctor and his/her patient. You can’t lie to him as that will have severe implications on your startup only. He/she is a patient listener who is ready to lay his ears even at midnight. A good listener is a one who is inquisitive and loves to accept and solve challenges. Well, it is not possible for a mentor to give his time 24*7 as he is just a guide who is there to support you in your critical time. So, you must make a daily schedule of meetings and sessions. So once a schedule is made, you also need to adhere to it as time is something which is most precious and valuable in this “go-and-get-it world”.
4. A great mentor is committed to your venture
A startup is a roller coaster ride with abrupt ups and downs. It doesn’t give you results overnight. So, a mentor is expected to stick to your startup and should be fully committed. There are no ifs and buts when it comes to problem solving. Moreover, he/she should be the one who takes leads as it gives an immense positive vibration. It is always not feasible and the right thing that you keep approaching them for small things repeatedly. They should themselves find problems and fix it. That can help to build your relationship with your mentor in a superb way which can often lead to long term commitment.
5. A great mentor is an honest and a genuine guide
Some mentors may pretend that they are omniscient because they never failed and so you should trust them blindly. But is it necessary that the ideas that helped to gain success in the past will help at present as well? The market is always subjected to changes. So, mentors should be genuine and adaptive to changes. They need to be up-to-date even more than the founders. Moreover, they should be very truthful and should never sugar coat the reality. A mentor is there to overcome the weakness and convert the harsh realities into a smooth and easy journey. The greatest mentor is the one who is not focused in making money but sees your startup as his own and judges every point critically to come out with the best solutions at the right moment.
6. A great mentor is an expert in his/her domain
The most obvious reason to have a mentor in your startup is guidance on areas that you are not very confident about. So, a mentor should be an expert in his or her field apart from having a great knowledge of startups and the existing trends. He should possess the capability to judge things at micro as well as macro level. So, it is crucial to choose a mentor by analyzing their portfolio in detail.
7. A great mentor is always prepared and presentable
Knowing is one thing and delivering it is another. You can find several cases where you have a highly knowledgeable person sitting right next to you but his/her words just fly over your head. So, the approachability and presentation matters a lot. Using high lever jargons and buzzwords can just help to show-off how talented a mentor is, but in the real scenario, it is the delivery of each and every intricate detail that helps. As discussed earlier, you should fix times for meetings instead of expecting them to be under your spell. So, before the meetings, it is crucial that you as well as your mentor are always prepared. The points that are required to be discussed should be clearly revolving I your mind. This can only lead to best utilization of time and a healthy discussion.
So, have you found a suitable mentor? What are the benefits that you have reaped after having him/her? Do let us know by commenting below.
