Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Mentor
This is a great post on why every entrepreneur should have a peer mentor. The post focuses on new entrepreneurs, but the reality is even founder-entrepreneurs of early stage and growth stage companies can benefit from having a mentor. CEOs and entrepreneurs have a natural tendency towards self-sufficiency that can lead to decision making in a vacuum or the feeling that no one understands what they are going through. Peer mentors can serve as a management think tank and as a trusted source of ideas and expertise - and honest advice.
In Vermont, there are a number of different programs to fit the different mentoring needs of entrepreneurs? The VSJF's Peer to Peer Collaborative (www.vsjf.org/what-we-do/peer-to-peer) offers peer advisory teams of 3 (CEO, COO and CFO) that work with founder / entrepreneurs of growth stage companies over a 12-18 month period on core strategic issues for growth. The Vermont Family Business Initiative (VFBI) offers support for family and privately held businesses through its monthly CEO groups, educational forums and management development seminars (www.uvm.edu/~vfbi/). Vistage (www.vistage.com) is a national organization that has a Vermont chapter offering advisory peer group meetings and one-on-one business mentoring.
There are many ways to find a mentor informally through your network, or formally through programs like I just mentioned. No matter how you find one, get a mentor today!
