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Acknowledging a good mentor

Topics relating to managing people and relationships

swald

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Hello everyone

I would like to hear your opinion on buying the help of a mentor to start my first business.

I am currently working with a mentor, but he is building his business and he is still groping a lot to find himself. Does he have the ideal profile to be a good mentor from there? How do you recognize them?

He publicly boasts of having me fall into these marketing pitfalls of which he has the secret. But I have the impression that I am dealing with an bad deal more than a well-established marketing strategy. I'm also afraid that my business will also be built on these failings.

I paid him 4000 euros for his help. How do I know if it is a good investment?

I'm not like him, but I don't have any experience and he talks a lot about these successes.

I need an external opinion that by definition is more objective. Could you help me, please?

Thanking you in advance.

Sincerely. Sebastian.
 
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Lex DeVille

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Hello everyone

I would like to hear your opinion on buying the help of a mentor to start my first business.

I am currently working with a mentor, but he is building his business and he is still groping a lot to find himself. Does he have the ideal profile to be a good mentor from there? How do you recognize them?

He publicly boasts of having me fall into these marketing pitfalls of which he has the secret. But I have the impression that I am dealing with an bad deal more than a well-established marketing strategy. I'm also afraid that my business will also be built on these failings.

I paid him 4000 euros for his help. How do I know if it is a good investment?

I'm not like him, but I don't have any experience and he talks a lot about these successes.

I need an external opinion that by definition is more objective. Could you help me, please?

Thanking you in advance.

Sincerely. Sebastian.

In my opinion (because you asked for it) if you haven't started a business on your own without a mentor, then hiring a mentor is a waste of both your time and money.

You don't need a mentor to start a business. You need abilities in critical thought and decision making. A mentor should help you reach the next level in business, not hold your hand and tell you what to do and how to start.

Free business mentoring to help you start a business:
Step 1: Find a problem to solve. Any problem.
Step 2: Research the market and decide if a solution might be worth pursuing.
Step 3: Form a solution
Step 4: Offer the solution to the market for money
Step 5: Grow, fail, quit, start again, etc.

Here's what that process looked like in my first business:

Step 1: Problem: People want a unique gift for adults who like Lego.
Step 2: Market: Anyone who knows someone who likes Lego.
Step 3: Solution: I will learn to build Lego portraits as unique gifts.
Step 4: Offer: I offered my portraits through local fall festivals and later on Etsy for money.
Step 5: People paid for my portraits. I grew, but I eventually failed because I was new to business. I quit that business. I decided on another business. I started again and again and again.

I have had one key mentor along the way who helped me get to the next level after my second business failed. There were several others over the years who helped in other ways. I paid exactly $0.00 for any of these.

Use your next 4k euros to do something that can produce actual results for you. It's a risk, but it's also a risk to throw away $4k euros on a mentor who can never force you to take even a baby step toward real results. Whether you hire a mentor or not, you can't escape the learning curve.
 

swald

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Oct 25, 2019
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In my opinion (because you asked for it) if you haven't started a business on your own without a mentor, then hiring a mentor is a waste of both your time and money.

You don't need a mentor to start a business. You need abilities in critical thought and decision making. A mentor should help you reach the next level in business, not hold your hand and tell you what to do and how to start.

Free business mentoring to help you start a business:
Step 1: Find a problem to solve. Any problem.
Step 2: Research the market and decide if a solution might be worth pursuing.
Step 3: Form a solution
Step 4: Offer the solution to the market for money
Step 5: Grow, fail, quit, start again, etc.

Here's what that process looked like in my first business:
Step 1: Problem: People want a unique gift for adults who like Lego.
Step 2: Market: Anyone who knows someone who likes Lego.
Step 3: Solution: I will learn to build Lego portraits as unique gifts.
Step 4: Offer: I offered my portraits through local fall festivals and later on Etsy for money.
Step 5: People paid for my portraits. I grew, but I eventually failed because I was new to business. I quit that business. I decided on another business. I started again and again and again.

I have had one key mentor along the way who helped me get to the next level after my second business failed. There were several others over the years who helped in other ways. I paid exactly $0.00 for any of these.

Use your next 4k euros to do something that can produce actual results for you. It's a risk, but it's also a risk to throw away $4k euros on a mentor who can never force you to take even a baby step toward real results. Whether you hire a mentor or not, you can't escape the learning curve.

Thanks a lot.

But i don't start a business, not exactly... I have a small business, 600 € by month to help people to obtain a diploma (openclassroom.org).

But you have right anyway.

Best regards. Your French correspondent. Sébastien.
 

Grinder20

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Thanks a lot.

But i don't start a business, not exactly... I have a small business, 600 € by month to help people to obtain a diploma (openclassroom.org).

But you have right anyway.

Best regards. Your French correspondent. Sébastien.
@Sebastien, it sounds you know deep down you chose the wrong mentor and that sucks...I'm sorry you are having to go through that. What Lex said makes a lot of sense, and it is his experience and most likely a lot of people on this forum. However, while there are a lot of opportunists out there, there are also very honest and successful entrepreneurs out there and they may or may not be "free." You've already paid $4K for someone that clearly isn't working out, so finding another "paid" mentor probably doesn't make sense, but you are on the right forum with people with a wealth of knowledge willing to help you if you are willing to help yourself. What value can you bring?
 
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MitchM

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The way I look at it is this: develop a business based on problems you see in the market - match it up with CENTS and see if the margins/route of revenue/ marketing strategy are there.

Move towards your goal of growing this business and use information that’s available in this forum, books, etc. to “mentor” you on your path.

Pairing up with an actual mentor should be for the purpose of simplifying your decision making.

The wisdom that they have is in helping you avoid costly and time consuming errors that they know lead to dead ends - and offer you solutions to distribution and other things that you hadn’t seen before.

So, what problem are you facing in your current business and what are your goals?
 

swald

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I'm sorry. I'm not sure I understand correctly. What do you mean by the value I can bring please?

In any case, I am ready to help as much as my abilities allow here
 

Ismail941

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In my opinion (because you asked for it) if you haven't started a business on your own without a mentor, then hiring a mentor is a waste of both your time and money.

You don't need a mentor to start a business. You need abilities in critical thought and decision making. A mentor should help you reach the next level in business, not hold your hand and tell you what to do and how to start.

Free business mentoring to help you start a business:
Step 1: Find a problem to solve. Any problem.
Step 2: Research the market and decide if a solution might be worth pursuing.
Step 3: Form a solution
Step 4: Offer the solution to the market for money
Step 5: Grow, fail, quit, start again, etc.

Here's what that process looked like in my first business:
Step 1: Problem: People want a unique gift for adults who like Lego.
Step 2: Market: Anyone who knows someone who likes Lego.
Step 3: Solution: I will learn to build Lego portraits as unique gifts.
Step 4: Offer: I offered my portraits through local fall festivals and later on Etsy for money.
Step 5: People paid for my portraits. I grew, but I eventually failed because I was new to business. I quit that business. I decided on another business. I started again and again and again.

I have had one key mentor along the way who helped me get to the next level after my second business failed. There were several others over the years who helped in other ways. I paid exactly $0.00 for any of these.

Use your next 4k euros to do something that can produce actual results for you. It's a risk, but it's also a risk to throw away $4k euros on a mentor who can never force you to take even a baby step toward real results. Whether you hire a mentor or not, you can't escape the learning curve.

Awesome. I am guilty of purchasing courses overtime.
You said it like a simplistic way. This should be Notable.
Thanks :)
 
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swald

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So, what problem are you facing in your current business and what are your goals?

Thanks again.

You're all very valuable to me in moving forward.

My goal would be to help people who have not found their vocations to find theirs by using all the technologies at their disposal. The advantage of Openclassrooms is that I have the opportunity to meet people who want to move forward in life, to find their first job and I can help them.

Unfortunately, the structure of this society for which I am only an intermediary with the learner places certain limits on the assistance I can provide.
 

MitchM

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Thanks again.

You're all very valuable to me in moving forward.

My goal would be to help people who have not found their vocations to find theirs by using all the technologies at their disposal. The advantage of Openclassrooms is that I have the opportunity to meet people who want to move forward in life, to find their first job and I can help them.

Unfortunately, the structure of this society for which I am only an intermediary with the learner places certain limits on the assistance I can provide.
So, are you manually pairing up with people and helping them make these decisions, like a career counselor?
 

swald

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So, are you manually pairing up with people and helping them make these decisions, like a career counselor?

Yes, but with the experience of a person in the profession (I am in cybersecurity). I have the idea of making them be more than just technicians by looking for their own challenges beyond those proposed by their employers.
 
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MitchM

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Yes, but with the experience of a person in the profession (I am in cybersecurity). I have the idea of making them be more than just technicians by looking for their own challenges beyond those proposed by their employers.
Okay, fill this out real quick. Keep it absolutely as simple as you can:

1. The Problem:

2. The Solution:

3. The Revenue Model:
 

swald

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Okay, fill this out real quick. Keep it absolutely as simple as you can:

1. The Problem: No one has enough knowledge to identify all the opportunities available to them to undertake cybersecurity

2. The Solution: Provide an online education programme that goes beyond the traditional training offered by governments to enable people to learn with the best.

3. Revenue Model: Subscription for global access or purchase of specific courses
 

MitchM

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1. The Problem: No one has enough knowledge to identify all the opportunities available to them to undertake cybersecurity

2. The Solution: Provide an online education programme that goes beyond the traditional training offered by governments to enable people to learn with the best.

3. Revenue Model: Subscription for global access or purchase of specific courses
So, you’re trying to help people who want diplomas for cyber security succeed - correct?

Maybe you can start with a YouTube channel or something like that to give out free information - attract ideal clients - and then have a more structured and detailed course or something like that on the inside.
 
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swald

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Oct 25, 2019
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So, you’re trying to help people who want diplomas for cyber security succeed - correct?

No. We don't need diplomas. Just accelerated courses and recognized certifications with many practices

Maybe you can start with a YouTube channel or something like that to give out free information - attract ideal clients - and then have a more structured and detailed course or something like that on the inside.

I thought about setting up an online course. If I use youtube, it would be to put extracts and promote it.

That's why I hired my mentor for these web marketing skills
 

Dan_Cardone

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Going by what I have seen in the past I know many people on the forum are against hiring coaches, mentors, and consultants.

I'm going to disgaree but only IF (thats a big if) the people you hire are actual experts who want to actaully help you.

My current business grew extremly fast and part of that is because I had a great coach help me avoid pitfalls and actually saved me both time and money by allowing me to learn from his mistakes. I was (and still am) also part of a great mastermind group that continues to be a big resource to my success.

Problem is, most coaches suck or have so little free time that you don't much value from hiring them.

Vet them well and ensure they have a track record of success doing what you seek to do.
 
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Grinder20

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Going by what I have seen in the past I know many people on the forum are against hiring coaches, mentors, and consultants.

I'm going to disgaree but only IF (thats a big if) the people you hire are actual experts who want to actaully help you.

My current business grew extremly fast and part of that is because I had a great coach help me avoid pitfalls and actually saved me both time and money by allowing me to learn from his mistakes. I was (and still am) also part of a great mastermind group that continues to be a big resource to my success.

Problem is, most coaches suck or have so little free time that you don't much value from hiring them.

Vet them well and ensure they have a track record of success doing what you seek to do.
Agree 100%!!
 

swald

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Problem is, most coaches suck or have so little free time that you don't much value from hiring them.

Thanks to all of you

I have the impression that my coach (he is not a mentor because he receives large sums of money) has neither the time (because he does not answer before our sessions of one a week) nor the skills (he remains rather vague in all the things I ask him, so I grope and he ends up telling me "it sucks" and he gives me the finished work by telling me that is what must be done)...
 

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