Thinking about starting your own business? Looking to make more money in your current position? Or thinking of moving into a new position altogether? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then what you need is a mentor.   

Mentors have ‘been there, done that’ and can provide honest and thoughtful feedback.  They can also answer your questions from a place of experience and insight. Each Smart Cookie has a mentor of her own and our business has assembled a Board of Advisors to help us with anything and everything needed to succeed.  

So before you quit your day job to start a dog grooming empire, you might want to search out a profitable company doing just that and spend a few days seeing if you: A) actually like washing dogs and B) have the resources and energy needed to launch your own initiative. 

Here are some of our favourite tips on how to find a mentor:

Source out mentorship programs in your local area.
A lot of these organizations are national programs with local chapters. Some require an annual fee to join.  For that fee, you are connected with a mentor and also have the opportunity to attend monthly meetings.  Often times there are  events and educational seminars throughout the year where you can learn more about topics like negotiation, starting a small business, financing a business and much more.  The FEW, or Forum For Women Entrepreneurs, is a Smart Cookie favourite and we have been lucky to gain one of our own mentors here. To learn more check out www.fwe.ca.

Use your network wisely.
We all have a network of friends and family. And often these people are eager to offer up their support and even their own connections. Why not take full advantage of the fact that these individuals want to lend a hand? If it is you who is approaching contacts for help, be sure to be clear about your expectations, and be open and willing to learn from these people. And most importantly, if you need something, ask. What’s the worst that can happen?

Blogs, blogs and more blogs.
Mentoring doesn’t have to take place face-to-face or even over the phone. The advice that you need can sometimes come in the form of online experts. Blogs, such as Loaded Bow (loadedbow.wordpress.com), seek out the experience and accomplishments of entrepreneurs in hopes that it may benefit others. We like Google Reader because we can get our favourite blog updates fed directly to our email accounts.  Visit commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english for more information.   

Questions? E-mail smartcookies@metronews.ca.

– Tune in Wednesday night at 9 p.m. EST/PST on the W Network and be sure to visitwww.smartcookies.com for more tips.