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MenuHow could I seek out a Mentor? Preferably a Mentor who's already had a successful Business.
i'm 18 and looking to find someone who can help me pursue my dreams and my vision, Im willing to work for free if i have to, as long as someone can help mentor me.
Answers
Great question! I recently came across a mentoring website called http://www.micromentor.org/ which could be a great place to start. Additionally, I like this site as well: https://www.dreamseedo.org/. One final way you can approach this especially if you are looking to start a business is to do the e-learning route through a website I found called http://startitup.com. It is completely free and takes your through an interactive Lean Launch Program so you can better articulate what your vision and dreams are. One final mentor source that I have found to be most valuable, read inspiration and motivational business books. They will ultimately create within you a thirst for knowledge. Think and Grow Rich is my all time favorite and is a timeless classic. Good luck my friend!
This is a great question. I had the same question 15 years ago.
I recommend you this:
1-Write on a paper what you would love to learn about. What would be something that if someone gives you 10 books about it you will read them all without any problem. What is that thing that if someone would ask you to do you will do for free over and over again.
2-Who are the people (close to where you live) that are the best in what you find out in point 1. Your "heroes". Find who they are and how they interact. Read what they write and listen to what they say. Would you like to work for them?
3-Approach them. This is a whole thing on itself! Depends on each person and where you are.
Get started !
I recommend the site Mentorcity.com. It connects with your LinkedIn profile and you set up more details describing your soft skills and professional expertise, the things you are looking for and the things you have to offer. Then up to four recommendations come up for you to consider as a mentor, you set up a 15 minute conversation to see if you want to work together and you go from there. The site has very useful forms and resources, references and ways to connect. You can very specifically target the skills and type of support you are looking for in a mentor and there is less likelihood of the "chemistry" not working. Give them a try and let me know what you think! Oh, did I mention it is free?
Related Questions
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How do you come up with a clear action plan/ roadmap/ checklist to get you from idea to launching a business?
To start with, create a "No-To-List" of non-action items. It will help you keep your focus intact on the actual and planned goals. It will also help the team's focus to move in unison. Talking about "To-Do" list of laundry items, start with assessing your internal capability, external requirement, and map the two to find the loosened nuts and bolts. Once you finish up with above exercise, create a list of action plan items that could help you move from possessing idea to establishing business. However, do ensure to plan your business model in the beginning to prevent from doing recurring redundant task. Let me know if you've tried creating any such checklist. You can DM me the same or we can hop on a quick call to discuss the fine prints.SB
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As a solo freelancer of my company (Incorporation), what are the best practices to grow my business, get more clients, and hire people?
I'm reading a book called, "Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup" written by Bill Aulet. The 24 steps are broken down into six categories: 1: Who is your customer? 2: What can you do for your customer? 3: How does your customer acquire your product? 4: How do you make money off your product? 5: How do you design and build your product? 6: How do you scale your business Your technically asking a good number of questions and I'm thinking this book might be a good starting point for you.JF
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What are the best practices when it comes to wring business plans/proposals?
Hi! I work with entrepreneurs who are exploring opportunities and launching and I lecture in Entrepreneurship on the side. The answer to your question is it depends on the purpose of your business plan and who the audience is. If it's for yourself to help you plan the business, then a good place to start is a business model canvas which quickly captures your ideas and shows you areas you need to focus on. If you are planning on going to a bank for funding, you will need the traditional 20 - 40 page business plan. Some investors will want similar, some won't. You would produce different documents to get key partners or suppliers on board. If the planning and opportunity evaluation process is new to you, you will save a lot of time and money by getting someone on board who can guide you through this process. I'm happy to jump on a call with you to help you with this.SJ
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How to decide stakes in a partnership?
The best way to test a person's talent is to put them to work in the reality of your business. If these folks are all onboard for being partners, promise to give them a cut of all deals they bring in. Structure the plan so that the contract lasts three months. Then, let them prove themselves and show (not just say) they really mean it. Make no equity promises until you can validate their claims. What if someone balks at the offer? I'd imagine these folks will have main jobs during the testing phase. If they scoff or refuse, then you've won immediately. If they aren't willing to hustle a bit extra for a few months how in the world could they do this for many years ahead within a successful partnership? Why three months? People can fake their behavior for quite a bit of time. At two months people can't help but being themselves. You'll get a taste for how they work, they're ability to close, and their personality. Personality is the biggest factor, as they may do a great job bringing in business, but be simply unbearable to work alongside. A note of caution around the Head of Marketing SME: this person sounds like a problem. Are they acting immorally towards their current employer? Check, stealing business. Are they sure they can do it on their own, but for some odd reason never have? Check. Are they requesting for more stake than they deserve? Check. These alone are reasons to run. Immoral, unproven, and greedy at the start. To me, you sound like you need to hire a commission based sales person. Give them a stake of each deal. Don't give up equity for something like this. This company is your baby and equity is a last resort.JF
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Any advice on starting up small businesses in two countries at the same time?
Please realize that my suggestion would be slightly different if I knew which two countries. However, without knowing that here's what I'd suggestion: 1. Since you're just getting started figure out which country provides the best legal benefits for starting a company. This should include tax benefits, legal protection, and ease when it comes to filing paperwork (incorporating, managing payroll, taxes, etc.). This will undoubtedly save you time and money moving forward, and staying lean. 2. Once you've established your home base country, you'll still need to hire people in the other country as you scale. You may want to think about using a service like oDesk or Elance, not necessarily to recruit people but to manage ALL the paperwork associated with hiring international people. They will of course be given contract status. If you are going to be providing employees equity then I'd suggest consulting a lawyer for how people in the non-home base country will be treated. 3. Reporting revenue. You need to be very careful about whether you are providing goods and services. If it's goods keep in mind that you might be subject to tariffs. If you're providing services then I think you might be in the clear, but please double check. Finally, some countries might have an issue with where the revenue was actually made i.e. are you sitting in your office in your home based country while servicing clients in the non-home base country, or are you actually in the non-home base country. 4. No matter what you'll need to setup a remote working environment for yourself. Invest in the best technology you can, and find clients who are willing to utilize your services on a remote basis. Here are a few additional posts on running a remote team that I've written: http://femgineer.com/2013/09/running-remote-and-making-progress/ http://femgineer.com/2013/03/how-to-transition-to-a-remote-team/PV
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