Finding a Mentor

[Si82]

I'm a recent business enterprise graduate looking to start a retail business. However having never started a business before and having no experience. I was wondering if it was possible to get the help of a mentor if anyone could point me in the direction of where to obtain this?

Thanks

 

[Si82]

Also I'm a recent Business Enterprise graduate has lots of business ideas. Researched the process of importing from China along with finding a cheap Chinese delivery company for delivering small quantities of items into the UK. I'm by no means clueless on theory but simply looking for some guidance and moral support from someone who has setup/ran an ecommerce website selling physical goods and can help me with the things not written in a text book.

 

[Solomon14]

Why are you choosing retail?

 

[Si82]

because most of the ideas I think of are product based and i'm not very good with people.

 

[Si82]

I'm really interested in products in relation to energy saving or production and am well read on this area. I did think about green consulting but prefer to sell green products.

 

[ethical PR]

Have you spoken to your investor to see if they have a business incubator scheme?

 

[Solomon14]

That's interesting. What kind of green products were you considering?

I'm in the middle of doing something similar at the moment.

 

[Si82]

Have you spoken to your investor to see if they have a business incubator scheme?

I don't need an investor at the first stage.
My University had an incubator scheme but I used the office space during my third year but gained no help. The place was empty 95% of the time and had no manager running it.

 

[Si82]

That's interesting. What kind of green products were you considering?

I'm in the middle of doing something similar at the moment.

A range of small & light products available from china at competitive prices and shipping, like small solar panels until the range increased to enable shipping in a shipping container. At that stage it would be more worth while shipping larger items.

 

[Solomon14]

When you source your products get a quote for shipping from the supplier in China. See if you can beat their quote. It's been a while since I've imported from China but when I did their shipping costs were lower than mine due to the bulk they were shipping. What I did was get them to ship. Add the shipping costs to cost of product for an overall cost of product to my door. Maybe times have changed or maybe it depends who you deal with out there but I couldn't beat the shipping costs of the suppliers and manufacturers I was dealing with out there.

If you want an idea to pursue. Try combining small solar panels with quality led components. Good luck.

 

[ethical PR]

Sorry I meant incubator - automated spell check that's disappointing to hear about your experiences have you tried The Princes Trust?

 

[Si82]

When you source your products get a quote for shipping from the supplier in China. See if you can beat their quote. It's been a while since I've imported from China but when I did their shipping costs were lower than mine due to the bulk they were shipping. What I did was get them to ship. Add the shipping costs to cost of product for an overall cost of product to my door. Maybe times have changed or maybe it depends who you deal with out there but I couldn't beat the shipping costs of the suppliers and manufacturers I was dealing with out there.

If you want an idea to pursue. Try combining small solar panels with quality led components. Good luck.

In the past I've got the best price through buying directly from the manufacturer in the case of electric bike kits but they do not offer shipping so I spent 3 months finding a cheap shipping company.

I'm looking at more a one stop shop for green products using my knowledge. For instance selling buck/boost converter as a recommended product to complement the purchase of a solar panel as the buck/boost essential pulse width modulate like most solar charge controllers but take only an amp or two. I will be avoiding technology that just does not work in the UK. For instance the battery and tiny solar panel devices which will take weeks to charge using the tiny solar panel.

 

[Si82]

Sorry I meant incubator - automated spell check that's disappointing to hear about your experiences have you tried The Princes Trust?

I'm too old for the princes trust.

 

[AlexPallex]

Maybe I can help, send me a PM of what you're looking for in a mentor and we can go from there.

 

[MatthewRJones]

This may help you, some interesting points in the article - http://goinswriter.com/find-mentor/

 

[HBR Business Consultants]

Hi Si82

You definitely seem to have the right attitude and enthusiasm, which is always a good start.

Feel free to pm us if you would like to discuss anything or have any queries. Good luck !

 

[Si82]

This may help you, some interesting points in the article

Thanks for the link

 

[OakMarkLondon]

You can get in touch with companies like startup loans or dtartup direct and they will provide you with a mentor in exchange for a loan. This doesn't have to be a huge loan, people are signing up with them just for the moentoring.

 

[EarlClickn]

In the past I've got the best price through buying directly from the manufacturer in the case of electric bike kits but they do not offer shipping so I spent 3 months finding a cheap shipping company.

I'm looking at more a one stop shop for green products using my knowledge. For instance selling buck/boost converter as a recommended product to complement the purchase of a solar panel as the buck/boost essential pulse width modulate like most solar charge controllers but take only an amp or two. I will be avoiding technology that just does not work in the UK. For instance the battery and tiny solar panel devices which will take weeks to charge using the tiny solar panel.

Well I have never used solar charging system as it is very expensive in my opinion. Efficiency is very low..

 

[Dave_Sharp]

I did a blog posting about finding mentors a while back but at the moment I can't post the link to it due to the restrictions of this forum. However, here is the gist of it:

I was recently reading an article in the small business section of the Independent on-line newspaper about the different outcomes between small business owners that have a mentor and those that don't. There were a couple of things about the article that stood out.

What is the real cause of a small business failure?
At the top of the article there is a hypothesis that whilst lack of funding in the early stages is a common cause of small business failure, there is a directly correlating effect with those businesses that had a mentor and those that different. Its true that often a business mentor knows where and how to access different start-up funds but my feeling here is that the mentor often stops the entrepreneur from chasing funding, preferring instead to chase customers. If the funding was aimed at the mentor and the mentor is focused on customers for the new business, that to me seems the right way around. Its all too common for the new business to chase the funding to pay the mentor.
The article then goes on to point out that businesses with mentors survive at a higher rate than ones without them.

What is mentoring?
There is a very interesting assertion about what the interpretation of mentoring is:
And yet mentoring still feels a little woolly for many people – a fringe benefit it would be nice to have in an ideal world, but not intrinsic to a small business’s chances of success; certainly not more valuable than bank funding.
I would challenge this view whole-heartedly. Bank funding is something that every entrepreneur would ideally wish for, but this comment would make it sound like a good mentor is worth less than support by a bank. Personally I see this in reverse. Not only will a good mentor be with the entrepreneur through the good times and the bad - the mentor is capable of influencing the growth of the business in a way a bank never could.
If you're considering the idea of a business mentor and are not clear about what mentors do to deliver growth then there are a number of websites and organisations that can advise you, just not a bank.

Why do entrepreneurs not use mentors?
The next part of the article highlights that whilst there are a number of business mentoring programs - the take up of these schemes is actually quite low. So why don't entrepreneurs take up the mentoring on offer?
For me there are two different syndromes here. One is just a basic fear, fear of an unknown. It's sometimes difficult for the entrepreneur to imagine that any mentor would understand or be interested in their business. They imagine (sometimes) that the mentor is going to try and change the business or even worse - tell them that the business won't work. As an experienced business mentor it is common for me to not fully understand a business when I first engage with it, but its also extremely rare to come across a new business that has no chance of success. All businesses have problems and good mentors focus on solutions to issues that are stopping the business from progressing.
The second reason an entrepreneur might not engage a mentor is ego. Its quite common to meet an entrepreneur who is not utilising a mentor relationship and get the sense that they feel they are better than any mentor, or that they have no problems that would require a mentor. If I get this feeling when I meet an entrepreneur for the first time I often do press them for an explanation of why they feel they don't need the support. Invariably you get a vague and narcissistic reflection on why they don't need a mentor.

Selecting a business mentor
Here are some personal thoughts on selecting a business mentor:
[a] Do you know someone already? Someone you have worked for/with previously? Someone you respect?
Make a list of the issues and challenges you want the mentor to help you with and then match it to any names you had from [1] and see if there is a very positive fit with a certain person.
[c] Ask anyone you know with a mentor already how its working and get any tips or advice from them.
[d] Decide how you want to work with the mentor. Mentors are not there to tell you what to do, so decide up front how often / how much interaction you want. Possibly a little more in the early days and then tapering off slightly once the initial discussions are over.
[e] There are some excellent funding pots to help you pay for your mentoring. Do some research around your local area to find out what is available to you and how to access it.

I can't afford a mentor!
I hear this a lot. Paying a mentor can often be a problem. If you can find someone to work with you for free then there can still be a massive upside, but because your not paying them its possible they may not be available when you need them - they need to make a living too! The next temptation is to offer them equity for their help. Personally I don't recommend this - and as a mentor I don't take equity for my input/time. Speak candidly with your prospective mentor about payment, there is always some kind of deal to be done. I have a number of ways of engaging with small businesses that can't immediately pay for my time, I'm sure other mentors have the same capacity to do a deal.

My number one piece of advice is to work with someone you like. When things are not going well, working with someone you like is going to make things a whole lot easier. Any dislike of the mentor will come out quickly when things are difficult and tense. The mentor doesn't want this any more than you do.

 

[Si82]

I was looking at another business idea over the past few days where I don't have the skills and would look at either gaining a partner with those skills or employing someone with those skills. Which arrangement do people think is best?

 

[bobdaz]

Where can I go to find a business mentor? Any recommended websites, organizations, etc?

 

[SabriM]

Feel free to drop me a message and I will see if I can help at all.

 

[Alan]

Generally do mentors charge or give their input for the better good?

 

[SabriM]

I think it all depends on the level of support that is required. I have mentored for a number of small businesses, mainly start-ups and early growth companies, that are generally just looking for guidance and have never charged them for my time. However, it is important to remember that all mentors/consultants do need to earn a living so for clients that require a more complex solution (over a longer period of time) I feel it is acceptable to charge a fee, appropriate to the required input/work.