It's crazy, when I first started business, it's such a ... This is 10 years ago, and
it was such a tough thing to do, is to find a mentor because when we start off as a business
owner or when you first start off as a budding entrepreneur, you're wanting to find a mentor
who's going to validate your thoughts.
Who's going to understand what you've been through.
Who's going to tell you, hey, this is the right step and give you the confidence in
doing so.
I just think the mindset that no one has the answers to your problem, and the problem that
you want to solve to the world, no one has the answer to it.
Just because I've been there and done that, does not mean that in today's landscape, in
today's environment, we can do the same thing to have the same results.
Things change all the time and even if you coy exactly what I do 100%, you're not going
to be able to achieve the same type of results it could be more, it could be less, it doesn't
really matter, but at the end of the day, every entrepreneur, they understand that.
People who are successful, they understand that you can't replicate the same type of
success.
Everyone does things a little bit differently and my whole point in saying that is, as an
entrepreneur and as a mentor, we cannot give answers.
We cannot tell you exactly what to do.
We can only point you towards the right direction.
That's what we do.
Is point you towards the right direction for you to explore what would work with how you
do things and what you're doing and what technology you have in place.
The landscape is changing so fast, whether it be selling on Amazon, digital marketing,
sales funnels, Facebook ads, everything is always changing and understanding this fact
is so important when it comes to finding a mentor.
It would set yourself to have the right expectation of when you are to engage with a mentor, how
would it feel like, what would it be like.
For me, when I first started off, I was always on the hunt of exactly what I've been saying
and what I'm sharing with you.
I'm on the hunt of someone that can tell me the answer and I feel like people are keeping
everything to themselves.
They're not willing to share.
They're keeping their secret sauce, why are they not willing to share?
They're telling me the fluff things.
Be committed, have determination, just try thing out and for me at that time, I'm just
like, dude, why are you holding out on me?
Why are you being so stingy, tell me more?
That's the reason why I reserved back to books.
I went out and networked for six months straight.
I met so many different people and networking events, they all suck.
What I mean by that is 99% of the people in that room are in the same boat as you.
So, basically it's like the blind leading the blind and the 1% seems to untouchable.
So, at the end of the day, going to these networking events it seems like that I'm wasting
my time.
That's the reason why I reserved back to books as my mentors and I read tons of books to
learn, to see what kind of trade I can pick up and the mindset that I should pick up.
In collaboration of all the books that I've read, that really formulated the character
that I have today.
By understanding the different types of mindset I should pick up, the different types of processes.
One book that's changed my life, that started my first business, is E Myth Revisited by
Michael Gerber.
This book talks about the foundation of starting a business, which is being an entrepreneur,
being a mechanic and a manager and the different roles that it takes to succeed in these roles.
Being an entrepreneur you need to be putting on different hats at different times.
Whether sometimes I'm an entrepreneur, sometimes I'm a manager and other times I'm a mechanic
because you got to have the skill set and you got to be the jack of all trades.
That's what the book teaches and teaches you about how to build procedures and processes
so then that way it takes you out of the equation and allows the business to run as an engine
itself.
For me, that's how I kick started my first business and that was my mentor.
So, the whole question about finding a mentor is to really understand the expectation and
to set that out right from the get go, is that no one has the answers for you and no
one can you lead you along the way.
It's all you, you've got to do everything yourself and believe in yourself.
It doesn't come easy.
Now, you might be thinking, dude, I just started business, how do I start believing in myself?
Who is to tell you what's right and what's wrong?
Your manager's not going to approve your purchase order because you're now spending your hard
earned money paying $5,000 for your first batch of inventory sending to Amazon.
Your manager's not going to be like, this is a go, this is a go, this is a no go.
It's from your pocket and you get to decide how much you spend, how much inventory you
get to buy, where you're going to send it to.
You absorb the rewards and also you take on the risk as well.
Whether your supplier's going to scam you.
Whether the product has good quality assurance.
It's all you.
A mentor's not going to solve any of that for you.
How you build confidence is making these decisions every single day.
Cautiously making decisions and being accountable for it and understand that it's on you and
you only that it comes back down to.
As you make a decision and as it works out, then now you gain a little bit more confidence
to make the next decision and that stacks up.
When you make the wrong decision, then you slide back down, but you don't stop there.
You make better decisions in the future and you make better decisions, better decisions,
and that's how you're able to gain the confidence to make the right decisions for yourself and
to validate your questions that you have.
So, then that way people don't have to hand hold you.
A mentor is all about pointing you towards the right direction and to share their experience
of what it was like being in that situation, in that crossroad, that you are now in.
Whether it works for you or not, whether it works in today's environment, no one knows.
It is speaking from experience that, for example, if you're ordering, let's say, inventory.
Instead of ordering 10,000 units right from the get go, maybe you should be ordering,
let say, only 500 as a test run because now you can test how the packaging works, how
the delivery system works, how the storage fees are working, how your product is selling.
Now, these are things that I can share with you from my experience as to what is working,
but at the end of the day, it might be different for you.
It might be different for your product.
You could be selling something at, let's say, 5,000 units and it sells out within two, three
day, who knows?
So, I'm just sharing with you how I'm doing things and why I did things my way.
It's up to you to make the decisions and it's up to you to start making your own decisions
so you can gain the confidence to make your own decisions in the future.
That's what a mentor is for.
Finding a mentor is ... See there's many types of mentors out there.
There are the people who are truly, genuinely wanting to help and you can ask some one off
questions because it doesn't really take them that much time.
There are the people who actually take payment as being a mentor and they're more invested
in you and your business.
So, I think it really comes back down to your perspective.
Do you want someone in your corner to walk you through your business with you or do you
want someone that's free?
If, for example, when I mentor people who are free, I'm much less invested.
I'm much more surface because at the end of the day, my time is valuable.
Where as when I'm coaching my clients who are paying me a couple grand a month, I'm
much more invested because I want them to succeed because when they succeed they'll
be paying me.
It's simply as that, right?
So, when it comes down to it, if you are looking for mentors who are willing to mentor you
for free, which I don't think there are a lot, but if you're looking for that one off
questions, then really adjust your mindset of asking the right questions.
What I mean by that is, you're not asking questions of, hey, you know what, I want to
start an Amazon business.
How do I start an Amazon business?
Frickin' Google it, go YouTube it, there are 10 million different articles out there of
how do you start and Amazon business.
Be fully informed when you go seek a mentor and when you're asking a question.
It is about presenting a question with your solutions and now that gives context to your
mentor to be like, hey, I would choose solution A based upon my experience.
Pretty much like do your homework first.
Do your homework first, that is so important.
So many people come up to me and they're like, "Hey Wilson, I want to start and eCommerce
business, how do I do it?
What's the different between Shopify and Amazon?"
I tell them, frickin' find Google.
I'm like, what's wrong with you.
Dude, I charge people $200, $300 per hour for consultation and you're asking me stupid
questions that you can find online.
You're just being lazy, that's the reason why you're asking me this question.
It's a very, very different feeling to a mentor when you go approach them and you ask them,
hey Wilson, I have $5,000 and I'm planning to start an Amazon business and I plan on
being in this specific niche selling travel products and this is my strategy of starting
out this whole campaign.
What do you think about that?
Do you think I should be starting off with a Kickstarter campaign first or do you think
I should be doing 100 free giveaways to gain that traction on Amazon?
Okay, that's a very, very different question.
Now, I can share with you my experience in doing so-
It's actually helpful.
It's super helpful.
I can share with you, hey, in today's world, what's working and what's not working and
how we can tweak your strategy.
You were doing your homework, I'm sharing with you what works and what doesn't work.
That's very, very different from asking the question of, hey Wilson, you know what I'm
starting an Amazon business, I have $5,000, how do I start?
Do you see the difference?
Yeah.
Very, very different and mentors are there and people who are more experience are willing
to share.
They're very, very much willing to share.
So many people have dumb questions.
So many people are not willing to put in the work, and they want people to do the work
for them.
That's the reason why they have so much difficulty finding a mentor.
It is because all in their own mindset and their perspective, that's the reason why it's
so difficult.
So, if you're trying to find a mentor, do your homework.
Provide that solution and better yet, actually invest in a mentor.
People who have been there, done that.
It's going to save you so much more time, energy, and money in the long run.
You paying someone $200, $300 or let's say $2,000 a month, you're paying for their experience.
You're not paying for them to talk to you for two hours and that's it.
You're paying for their 10 plus years of experience of running a business and what they have done
in the past and them being in your corner to tell you, hey, potentially this is a good
way, potentially this might be a way that's going to save you from spending $50,000 on
your first batch of inventory, which is going to go to trash because of the fact that it
doesn't pass the compliance with Amazon.
That's going to save you $50,000 by investing $2,000.
Those are the things that people need to understand.
It's not about that $2,000, it's not about the hour that you're spending with you're
mentor.
It is about their experience.
It is about the mistakes that it may potentially save you.
That's the value of a paid mentorship.