I was recently asked to be a mentor in a mentoring program for new business owners. My first reaction was to laugh at the person who asked me (politely!) but she proceeded to list all the reasons why she thought I would make a great mentor. I’m still not sure I feel confident enough to agree with everything she said, but it did get me thinking about mentoring in general.
I have been in business for 3 years and in that time I realised that I have informally mentored a number of women (mostly mums) just starting out. In fact, in the last month, two friends starting a business have peppered me with lots of questions that have done a number of things for me:
1. Made me realise how much I DO know
2. Caused me to reflect on my journey and look at how far I have come in 3 years
3. Forced me to re-evaluate some of my practices and procedures
4. Provided me with opportunity to research areas I probably wouldn’t have made time for otherwise.
In Donna-Marie Coggins’ blog, Small Business Diva, she shares some key factors to business success, including “seek outside help”. Mentoring definitely falls in this category. and although I don’t have a formal mentor myself at this stage, I have various people with whom I informally “catch up” and bounce ideas off. And as shown above, the benefits of being a mentor (even if it is “informal”) can be much more than you first realise.
Yours in Design
Michelle Grice
Shel Design Weblog 
That’s great Michelle – I’m sure you’ll do an excellent job at mentoring.
I believe that to mentor someone else, you don’t need to be knowledgable in all areas of business. It may be one specific area that you are able to provide guidance. Personally, I have several business mentors – most informally – and each offers a different perspective, but they are all in line with my own philosophies.
The person who asked you to be a mentor obviously has confidence in you.
That’s great Michelle. I’m sure you will do a fantastic job 🙂