Message of the Week 19 - 23 February 2024
Week 08
Why every small business should have a mentor
A few weeks ago we spoke about how mastering active listening can help to unlock true potential in every interaction. So many aspects of business can be made easier if we have the right tools or skills at our disposal. The question remains: How do you acquire those skills if you are unaware that they are missing in the first place?
The answer lies in asking for help from someone who has walked the path before you. The way to do this is to find a business mentor who understands the pitfalls and challenges in your industry in South Africa.
Mentors can provide hard-earned insights into how you run your business and offer more effective ways of doing things that you might not have considered. They can share the techniques and tools they have used to overcome similar challenges, and they can act as a proactive sounding board to your ideas and overall vision for your business.
According to this article in ChannelWise, guidance and support from an experienced mentor is invaluable to small business success. The article offers these 5 reasons every small business owner should consider mentorship:
- Guidance and Expertise – A mentor will have faced many of the challenges you currently face and can provide a shortcut to overcoming them.
- Networking Opportunities – By introducing you to others in the industry, a mentor can help to open doors to fresh opportunities.
- Accountability and Goal Setting – Having somebody to hold you to account will ensure that you take action to achieve your goals.
- Problem Solving and Decision-Making – Problem solving and critical decision making is that much easier when you’ve got an experienced mentor to talk things through with.
- Personal Growth and Confidence – Mentors can provide motivation and personal support that boost personal wellbeing and self-confidence.
Our founder Kazuo Inamori sums it up beautifully in Kyocera’s philosophy when he says “It may sometimes appear that the only people who succeed are those who step on others to get ahead, but this is not true, truly successful people are those who remain humble. Humble people seek guidance and expertise and are not afraid to say I don’t know, lets solve this together.”