🤝🏾 Mentors

It feels incredible to be writing with zero burden of exams or academic commitments. Seems like the last time I did this was an eternity ago.

A topic I want to discuss this week is one I overlooked when I started out over a year ago but has become increasingly important and one I have started paying close attention to. And that is mentorship.

Similar to medicine, where it’s important to find yourself a few consultants who you can closely work with in terms of attending clinics, audit and publication opportunities, it is important to have a few experienced mentors in your corner when trying to start a business.

This was something I overlooked due to my own bias towards action, preferring agility over a slower and more paced growth curve. In hindsight, I think both have their advantages and the right time to be implemented. Crucially, it’s important to have individuals to bounce ideas off in either situation who challenge your ideas and provide a variety of opinions i.e. different ways to tackle the same situation or problem. Personally, I have found the variety in opinion a useful exercise as it allows me to step out of my own mind and view the task at hand from a more objective lens.

So where does one find such mentors?

This was a question I faced and it’s often easier than you expect. I suggest looking for one in your immediate social network who you feel will contribute and challenge you most. There is also no harm in walking up to individuals you admire or have read about at events you attend (I am guilty of this). The key is to bring together individuals with a variety of different backgrounds.

Key to remember to not overdo this! Probably no more than a few mentors at any point in time is best but I am still working through this process myself.

Hope this is useful for all the budding entrepreneurs scaling their businesses!