- to help you define your goals
- to keep you moving all the time
- to inspire you and guide you
No man is an Island, once in a while everybody needs an ear of a friendly advisor with a degree of experience that can offer guidance in the form of a mentor. Do you need one?Probably. Rather than employing an outside agency why not consider a mentor, who can provide valuable advice and insights into your business. They can help if your business does not have experience in specific areas of your industry. This could be someone you already do business with, therefore you can trust them. There are areas within your industry you can search, for instance LinkedIn has a platform on mentoring and finding the right people. They can help your business;
Define your Goals
In order to find out what you want to achieve the key is to have clear goals and how your mentor can help you.
Ask yourself , what is the one thing stopping you moving forward, this will give your mentor useful information so you can move forward.
It may be that you have a low customer base which in turn will effect your production and profitability.
Are your goals realistic and sustainable? Are you capable of sacrificing time and resources to achieve these goals?
Once you have identified with your mentor your goals and targets its a requisite to set a timetable in order to make them achievable. Now you have recognised what needs to be done, collaborate with your mentor to assign a date which should not be too long away but short enough for you to stay motivated.
It’s time to work with your mentor to put the steps into action and have a clear definition of your goals. Your mentor may come up with some innovative ideas which you had not considered:
- Launch a SEO campaign to increase you target audience and drive them to your website
- Encouraging existing customers for referrals and give them an incentive
- Engage with your audience through your Social Media platforms
- Hire a PR company to help to increase public awareness of your company
Your partnership with your mentor is special so by following these processes and reviewing them on a regular basis with them will improve your chances of moving forward.
Keep Moving
Momentum and keeping it going can be the biggest problem in business. A mentor can keep you on track if you meet upon a regular basis. They can provide you with incentives that result in increased customer traffic and keep motivation up with your employees.
Mentors will help you evaluate your business and analyse what your company has achieved to date. They will show you how to layout your annual plans and targets and how they align to your long term goals. They will also highlight the weak areas of your business and how to deal with them so you can stay ahead of the competition and become more competitive.
Are you the ‘face’ of the company, if so, you need you need to be heard and don’t get too comfortable behind your desk. Your mentor can show you how to improve your customer relations by attending networking events, improving communications and engaging with your employees.
Mentors will show you how to encourage innovation. This stage comes through evaluating the business and implementing new systems which in turn will improve motivation throughout the business.
Mentors can help you through this process by sharing their insights and expertise within your industry.
To Inspire you and Guide You
Mentors can take you outside your everyday business environment and show you how to make innovative decisions with clarity.
If you are struggling with some technical or administration problems, a specialised mentor can inspire you to solve them. They could be an outside influence, however they could also come from within the company, such as an engineering manager.
If moral is low within the workforce, a mentor can act as an independent observer, so can see things objectively and make constructive suggestions.
A mentor is an invaluable source who can be a great asset to helping your company move forward and galvanize your long term prospects.