It is very difficult to see down the road when starting a business. It is dark, full of twists and turns and potholes. If only you could know-what-you-don’t-know! That’s why would-be successful entrepreneurs need assistance from others who have an intimate knowledge of how business ‘actually’ works. Many entrepreneurs try to get that information from business books and classes. While these can be helpful on their own, they don’t usually teach the ‘secret sauce’ needed to create success and are more helpful when combined with that ‘secret sauce’ a business mentor can provide.
There are many benefits that a mentor can offer (providing guidance and answers, offering a different perspective that helps overcome a problem, improving critical skills for the entrepreneur, providing a safe place to vent/figure things out, showing the value of and how to expand a network, learning methods and strategies that make a difference, etc.). But beyond these, long-lasting relationships are usually built resulting in long-term collaboration and mutual benefit. Mentors can also help the new entrepreneur/founder deal with the *often* difficult business challenges – we all deal with the same issues, and knowing that someone else had to deal with them and was actually able to work through them is a huge confidence builder.
Beyond the satisfaction of helping someone become successful, as a mentor, I’ve found the experience very rewarding and I’ve learned as much from my mentees as I hope they’ve learned from me. Dealing with new entrepreneur challenges can often help in your own business growth as you can be inspired with new ideas, meet new contacts and learn new business strategies from their mentees.
Founder Institute Wisconsin was formed for this specific purpose. To foster innovation. Founder Institute Wisconsin is looking for seasoned business people with skillsets that can help Founders launch their companies. Founder Institute Mentors receive startup equity and include influential CEOs and thought-leaders, such as Phil Libin of Evernote, Jason Calacanis of Launch, Eric Reis of the Lean Startup movement, and over 25,000+ others worldwide.
Founder Institute Wisconsin would like to invite you to join our growing network of sober-minded yet altruistic business leaders looking to create the next generation of effective business leaders.
Learn more and apply to become a mentor at: https://fi.co/mentors/10403