Hi guys! In this video, we're going to be talking about business mentoring. What is it,
how does it work, and how does it apply to you.
Shaun, let's start right at the beginning. What is mentoring and how is that different from business
mentoring? Well, there's no real difference I guess. It's your looking at the specific industry.
I think all mentoring is business in nature of some kind. But the difference between
sort of entrepreneurial mentoring and business mentoring, entrepreneurial mentoring is you're
looking at the whole gamut of different colours and flavours. With business mentoring, you're
very specifically on that one particular business or that industry. Okay, so business mentoring,
why is it so important? What can people hope to get out of it? What you want to do,
particularly if you're in a new industry or even if you'd been in it for a while, finding somebody
who has been doing what you're doing or is doing it better, to help you narrow in to what you're
trying to achieve, or just helping you trim the fact of the edges as well. It's always good to
get that third party to look at what you're doing. So how do you find a business mentor?
It's the same trick. Find somebody in the industry who's already doing really well.
I think a really good way to capture somebody who can help you in the industry,
look who's marketing in getting out there because number one, it says that I really want to talk
anyway. So they're more likely to talk to you. How could you use tools like Google and LinkedIn
to find a business mentor? What I want to know is what do you actually type into Google, what
do you type into LinkedIn to get these results? Well, look at your industry. What are you doing,
what are the key search results that you would be putting and if you were advertising.
Or what are the key metrics that represent you and your business. Punch that in to start with and see
what comes up. And then look at those specific people. Can you give me an example of what
you might search on. For example, for your own industry. Yeah, absolutely. I'm a fund manager,
that's one of the hats that I wear. So I'd actually search "funds manager Melbourne,"
"funds manager Australia." And see what comes up. See if those first few listings. People are really
paying to be on Google. They're people that are really spending a lot of time on their branding.
That's probably some you want to associate with. So, we know what business mentoring means, we know
what people are hoping to get out of it which is basically growth getting their own business going.
We also know how to find them. Once you found them, what does an average business mentoring
session look like? Particularly in business mentoring, it's probably not going to be a paid
position. So if you can capture somebody, and you've got them for a coffee meeting - what you
want to do is have a series of questions ready. Things that you're already concerned about within
your business or things that you feel like you can brush up on. And have a bit of a snapshot of
what your business is, what you're doing, so that that person can get an idea of what you're doing
and be able to help you trim a little bit of the facts. Or will give you some new ideas.
You personally are a mentor, and you have been mentored. What's a quick story, an anecdote of
when it's been really helpful for you? I've had so many mentors through the years. I've had a
lot of really good advice and some pretty terrible advice as well. I think it's mostly my approach is
probably the most anecdotal part of it. I will hassle people down. I have sent requests. I've
even sent through baskets and gifts to get in there. I'll throw a bit of advice at this one.
If you find somebody who really represents what you want to be doing, be creative. Don't give up.
They'll eventually going to come and have coffee with you. For those of you who'd like to find out
more, please visit us online at shaunfox.net and don't forget to hit that subscribe button.