A Mentor is a prerequisite in Business

Yesterday I was reading a very interesting book called ‘The Millionaire Mindset’ by Gerry Robert. The book talks about how ordinary people like you and me can create extraordinary income. What I want to share with you is a paragraph from chapter one of this valuable book to reinforce my article. The first chapter talks about ‘Magic thinking’ I quote Gerry Robert below:

Bob Proctor, my financial mentor, sat me down and shared how his mentor, Leland Val Van de Wall, had influenced him. Bob was a fireman. Being a fireman is a secure job. He was “set” for life if he wanted to be. As a fireman Bob was earning $4,000 per year, a handsome sum back then. He didn’t have to work very hard, and he could never be fired (no pun intended). Instead of being satisfied with that, Bob read a little book that was quickly becoming a bestseller calledThink And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

You may be wondering why I am quoting this paragraph….as you can see Bob Proctor is Gerry Robert’s financial mentor. Gerry is a very successful entrepreneur and New York number one bestselling author; you also see that Bob has his own mentor Leland Val de Wall. By the way Bob Proctor is a financial expert and motivational speaker; he is a very successful entrepreneur.

I strongly believe in the old adage that says ‘experience is the best teacher’, in order to succeed in the business world you will need to interact with people who have already made it. By this I mean you have to be careful when selecting a mentor, the person you choose to be your mentor must be someone who is successful in the sector you are planning to establish.

By definition a mentor is someone who will take you by hand and show you how to do things. In other words mentoring is where one person helps another to make changes to their life or work. It is a partnership between two people: the mentor and the person who is being mentored. Both partners have a role in making sure the relationship works and both gain from it. In simple terms a Mentor is a wise and trusted guide and advisor.

Mentoring is the best form of acquiring knowledge, it’s good in the sense that you will be learning from someone who has already travelled the same road you intend to travel. The best way to get to any destination is to ask a person who has travelled the same road again and again.

Approaching a Mentor

This is the most important task for any aspiring entrepreneur. How do you choose a mentor? Will he or she agree to spend his or her precious time with a newbie? How do you approach a possible mentor? These are all questions you need to answer before you approach any person you want to act as your mentor. The first step is to identify someone who is successful in the same business you are planning to venture into.

There are two ways you can use to approach a prospective mentor. If you do not know him personally, you can either contact the person through email or phone to book for an appointment. If you are granted the appointment make sure when you go there you have prepared your case professionally in order to convince him or her about your seriousness in venturing into business. One of the things you must take with you is your business plan professionally printed in book format.

Before discussing any business details, please let the mentor know you ARE NOT LOOKING FOR FUNDING. This way you can now create a conducive atmosphere to present your case. You must be able to present the business plan to the mentor from your head.

Tell him or her how you have been following his /her success and how you want to learn a few tricks on how he/she have managed to get to the top. Depending on how you present your case, you should succeed in getting a mentor who will guide you in your journey towards realizing your dream. If you want standard email templates you can use to approach a mentor feel free to contact me, I will be happy to send the template to you.

As a parting note, Wayne Dyer said ‘Successful people make money. It's not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do’.

To your success!!!!