Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

That`s exactly what I`m looking for.  Someone to guide me, I`m not going to be doing 1 thing for the rest of my life.  Currently busy studying and doing programming and sales.

Maybe I need a new mentor for everything I do?  But in some fields I don`t think it is necessary, but is that my own lack of vision/knowledge or is it the truth?           

I think what you`re looking for isn`t a mentor. Instead, you`re looking for someone who can teach you the overall "ins and outs" of business. Some people, myself included, are fortunate to have had a parent or adult who did this as we grew up.

Many people grow up in an environmnent where business and business owners are a complete mystery. They have a mind that seeks to build a business and take control of their working life and destiny, but no "natural" background in the concepts.

The solution is to enroll in some business courses at a local college. You don`t have to go for grades or a degree. You can easily "audit" a course, where you pay the fee, take the course, but none of your test grades apply toward a pass/fail situation. Junior colleges are often a good place for something like this.

Another option is to get a job working for a 1-owner business, and develop a relationship with that person. They`ll likely be happy to explain to you all that goes on in running that small business. Choose a type of business that`s similar to what you`d like to run yourself someday.

It`s not uncommon for an older business owner to eventually want out of the business, and to sell it to someone like yourself.

I think you need to stop looking for a mentor and start learning to listen to yourself.

You can go through life asking other people to guide you, but you`re not a true entrepreneur until you take that leap and listen to yourself for once. Take charge. Learn, think, grow ... fail, fall, learn, start again.

(Not to say that you shouldn`t ask for help when you need it. True wisdom is in hiring good people sometimes.)

Yah, remember that a good Executive doesn`t know the answers, necessarily. But they sure do know where to go to GET the answers (and who to ask). :-)

Hmm, all things considered, I think I probably don`t need one.  Maybe I just need someone to ask questions when I have them.  And this doesn`t happen a lot.

I`m finishing my degree in Computer Science with majors in Computer Science, Information Systems and Business Management. I`m also taking accounting and auditing.

And my dad is also business owner.  But he`s very traditional "get a degree, get a job".  He`s not a traditional business owner, but a doctor, so he does own his business but he still works like an employee.

But I think the comments I`ve received here has helped me with some questions that I had.  And then for the moment, I`ll get at it and not have any more questions. :)

Thanks guys! :)

Physicians are notorious for being bad at business. However!...they also usually are pretty good at finding excellent office managers! Have you thought about striking up a different relationship with the person who runs your father`s business? :-)

Wouldn`t box him in like that, I mean like "all doctors write like dog poop that`s been in a blender for 3 hours"...

And he is good at managing his money etc.

But to get where he is, which is all that he knows, he studied, got his acclaimed degree and started working.

There isn`t really a single person who runs the place, they are 8 doctors and then there is someone who does this and that etc.  But they all do the main business, they hire people for marketing etc.

So can`t go there.

But like I said, I think I don`t need what I really thought I did.  Until I do.  And at this moment all that I need to do and am doing I really know how to do.

I think I might just need some motivation to keep going during stressful times, when there is no money in the bank and when I have a cup of water to drink.  Just to keep going and not to lose hope.  It`s pretty hard! :)

Ah....and so here we come to the crux of the problem. :-) How to ovecome fear, anxiety, stress, panic, and despondency!

You were maybe thinking you could go to an Authority and they would instantly show you what you were doing wrong, then how to fix it. I can certainly relate to that!

One of the best analogies I`ve come up with, if I do say so myself, is "business as a fishing experience."

We routinely go fishing to the same lake, two days in a row. One day we catch fish, the other day, nothing whatsoever. Or, we go fishing at those lakes later in the year, and catch nothing. You should HEAR the stories people fishing with us come up with, as well as our reasons for "How come the fish aren`t biting?"

LOL! It`s amazing! And believe me, there are people who "sound like" the most incredible fishing professionals ever to grace our presence! They tell us that the barometric pressure over Greenland is causing a push in the air across the Midwest, leading to a vibrancy in the water which the fish don`t like. So they hide in the middle of the lake, and aren`t eating on alternate Sundays.

The fact remains that sometimes things work; sometimes they don`t.

It`s an excellent process to cross-check your thinking and actions with an objective, learned other person. That gives you a sort of reality-check. But it`s not a mentor, only someone who`s *analysis* you can count on to be objective.

The most difficult thing about being an entrepreneur is that there usually isn`t any safety net. It`s all or nothing, boom or bust. We`re experiencing that ourselves, with no money in the bank, nothing as backup, everything committed to the business, and no idea where our next sale will come from.

But what would you rather be doing? Would you rather get a job that pays you $60K per  year, instantly fixes all your woes and worries......today.....and then leaves you in a rut, working for someone else for the rest of your life? :-)

There`s nothing worse in life than looking back at what might have been. Especially if you were involved at the startup phase, then backed out due to short-term worries. Financial problems are often short-term, in this context. But then when you fix them, you end up looking backward for years, wondering what would have happened if only you`d "stuck it out." Y`know?

Another way to say it is "the wildcard theory." When you work as an employee, you know exactly what you`ll earn each week, each month, each year. You`re told what will happen, and your life is nicely organized, planned, and stable. Until you get laid off, outsourced, or retired.

But running a business gives you a "wildcard." ANYthing can happen! In one, ten-minute conversation, you can get an order that will change your life. You can`t predict where you`ll end up, what will happen each week, or anything else. That means chaos!

However, the nice thing about chaos is that it takes small energy to form organization. Think about it. If you have a highly organized wall and you want to turn it into a garden, you first have to expend huge effort to tear down the wall, reduce it to rubble (chaos), then cart it away.

But suppose you already have a blown-up wall, already in chaos? It takes much less effort to cart it away and organize the garden. So too, when your life is in chaos, 1 single thing can instantly transform it into a pattern, like crystals precipitating out of a super-saturated liquid. That`s the wildcard.

When you have a regular job, you already have a lot of organization, but it`s organized toward someone else`s dream, goals, and passion. All that would have to be taken down first, before you can reorganize your life toward your own passions and direction.

I myself have become very close to an older retired, very sharp business person over a period of ten years.

I`ll call him for coffee or a beer every now and then, when I want need some advice or feedback. 

What usually happens is that he starts asking me questions and more importantly, challenges my answers.  Sometimes, I feel like I go away with homework (more thinking or research) to do.

A true teacher makes you find the answer yourself.

Really an excellent post, drvag! :-)