Do I Need a Business Mentor? What a Good Mentor Can Actually Help With
I've had several business mentors over the years. They've all been quite different and they've all brought different things to the table, but I've found every one of them useful in some way.
Sometimes they've given me advice, sometimes they've helped me solve a problem, but actually, some of the most useful conversations haven't involved somebody telling me what to do at all. They've involved having someone to bounce ideas around with, asking me the right questions and helping me see the wood for the trees. Because when you're running a business by yourself, sometimes you're just far too close to it.
What does a business mentor actually do?
A good business mentor isn't there to tell you exactly how to run your business. They're there to help you think.
They can give you advice based on their own experience, of course, but I think the really valuable bit is having somebody outside your business who understands what you're trying to do and can help you make sense of it.
That might mean helping you:
work out which of your 700 ideas is actually worth pursuing
get clear on what you're selling
make a decision you've been going backwards and forwards on for months
figure out why something isn't working
turn an idea into an actual plan
have some accountability so the plan doesn't remain in the Notes app forever
or sometimes just hear that you're allowed to do the thing you actually want to do
That last one comes up more than you might think.
Sometimes you need someone who isn't your husband/mum/best friend
Friends and family can be incredibly supportive when you run a business but it's not quite the same. You can absolutely tell your husband about the three different versions of an offer you're considering launching and ask him which one he prefers but there's a good chance you'll end up explaining the entire context for 25 minutes before he can even answer the question. And unless they've run a similar business themselves, the people closest to you often don't really understand all the things that are going on behind the scenes. A mentor does.
There's something incredibly useful about being able to say, "I've got these three ideas, I don't know which one to do and my brain is going round in circles" to someone who understands exactly what you mean. You don't necessarily need them to choose for you. Sometimes you just need them to help you untangle it.
A good mentor shouldn't tell you what you should be doing
This is probably one of the things I feel most strongly about. When I mentor someone, I usually start by getting everything out of their head. What are all the ideas? What's bothering them? What isn't working? What do they think they should be doing? And then comes the more interesting question:
What do you actually want to do?
Those two answers aren't always the same.
You might think you should be posting on Instagram every day. You might think you should launch an online course. You might think you should grow a team, run more workshops, make more money, start a mailing list or turn yourself into someone who spends half their life filming B-roll of themselves opening a laptop. But do you actually want to? And does doing that thing help you build the business and life that you actually want? Sometimes one of the most valuable things a mentor can give you is permission to shed the "should" completely.
Accountability is a bigger part of mentoring than you might think
Knowing what to do and actually doing it are two completely different things. I know this because I've been on both sides of it. You can have a brilliant idea on Tuesday, spend Wednesday thinking about it, decide you're definitely going to do it on Thursday and then somehow it's three months later and you still haven't done anything with it.
Having somebody say, "Okay, so what are you actually going to do next?" can make an enormous difference. Even better if you know they're going to ask you about it again. That's why I think accountability is such an important part of mentoring. It isn't about somebody checking your homework or telling you off because you haven't done something. It's about turning all the thinking and talking into action.
Creative businesses can be particularly lonely
I think there's another layer to all of this when you run a creative business. You are often the business. You're the person making the thing, teaching the workshop, answering the emails, posting on Instagram, doing the marketing, coming up with the ideas and wondering whether anyone is ever going to buy any of them. And because what you're selling has often come directly from your creativity, it can feel incredibly personal.
If nobody books your workshop, it doesn't necessarily feel like a perfectly normal business problem. It can feel like nobody wants the thing you made. Add in the fact that lots of creative business owners don't have a traditional business background and it's hardly surprising that so many of us feel like we're winging it.
There's also that little voice that occasionally asks whether this is even a proper job. I've certainly had it. Having someone who understands that side of running a creative business can be just as valuable as having somebody who understands the numbers.
Your mentor needs to understand the kind of business you're building
This is also why I don't think every successful business owner automatically makes the right mentor for you. Personally, a tech bro telling me how he scaled his company to seven figures isn't going to be particularly useful. That's not the business I'm trying to build. I'm a creative business owner and a mum. I've deliberately built businesses around my life rather than trying to build my life around my businesses. The things that matter to me aren't necessarily going to be the things that matter to him.
That's why I think it's worth finding somebody who has experience in your field, or at least understands the kind of business you're trying to create. They don't have to have built the exact business you're building but they should understand your world.
What should you look for in a business mentor?
Experience matters. If someone is going to help you do something, I think it's reasonable to ask whether they've actually done something similar themselves but I'd look beyond their CV too.
I'd be very wary of anyone promising that their method is the one right way to build a business, or guaranteeing that you'll make a particular amount of money if you follow their formula. And personally, anyone shouting about SIX FIGURE MONTHS would have me quietly closing the tab.
I'd look for someone who:
has relevant real-world experience
asks good questions rather than constantly telling you what to do
is honest about the fact that they don't know everything
understands the kind of business and life you're trying to build
doesn't make ridiculous promises about what they'll achieve for you
and, most importantly, is someone you actually like talking to
Personality fit matters more than I think we sometimes acknowledge. You're potentially going to talk to this person about the bits of your business that aren't going particularly well. You need to feel comfortable doing that.
How do you know if you need a business mentor?
I don't think there's a particular point when you're suddenly "ready" for mentoring. You don't need to have reached a certain turnover or have been running your business for a certain number of years. You might benefit from having a mentor if you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed by your own ideas, struggling to make decisions or constantly knowing what you need to do but not actually doing it.
You might also benefit from one when things are going brilliantly. Sometimes the question isn't "How do I fix this?". It's "What do I want to do next?" and you don't necessarily need ongoing mentoring for years. Sometimes one really useful conversation can be enough to get you moving again.
You probably don't need someone to give you all the answers
In fact, I'd be suspicious of anyone who says they have them. Some of the best mentoring I've received hasn't resulted in somebody handing me a list of instructions, it's resulted in me leaving the conversation thinking:
Oh. THAT'S what I actually want to do.
And then having a clear idea of how I'm going to do it. That's what I think good mentoring should give you. More clarity, a bit of confidence, someone in your corner and a plan for what happens next.
Not somebody else's version of what your business should be. Yours.
Looking for a creative business mentor?
I now offer one-to-one mentoring for creative business owners, particularly people running – or hoping to run – creative workshops.
We start with a questionnaire so I can understand what's going on in your business before we meet. Then we'll spend 90 minutes getting all those ideas out of your head, figuring out what you actually want and making a clear plan for what to do next.
If you're not sure whether I'm the right person for you, that's exactly why I offer a free Virtual Cuppa first. It's a 15 minute chat, there's no pressure to book anything afterwards, and we can both decide whether it feels like a good fit.