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Having a trusted mentor you can turn to and confide in is valuable but in reality it\u2019s likely that you will have to turn to several different sources in order to get the best help available.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWith PushStart I have a cup of coffee with an entrepreneur once or twice a week and I\u2019m always aware there\u2019s someone more knowledgeable than me on certain areas,\u201d says Antulov.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOne start-up hadn\u2019t launched its product and asked me about patents. I\u2019m not a patent attorney but I knew someone he could talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n
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While you may need to be a little promiscuous to get the advice you need you should be aiming to have one or more mentors who are in it for the long haul.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSometimes, one hour with a lawyer or accountant, who is acting in a mentor capacity, can be enough to help you out for six months,\u201d says Antulov.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBut one mentor who you can catch up with regularly can provide long-term benefits for your business.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Like any relationship, you want to be able to get on well with your mentor. An abrasive, grumpy mentor is the last thing you need.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou want to have a rapport with your mentor,\u201d says Birt. \u201cMake sure that you get along with them like any new friend. Get them excited about working with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
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But respect cuts both ways.<\/p>\n
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\u201cDon\u2019t be demanding and say \u2018well, what can you do for me?\u2019 \u201d advises Birt. \u201cIf mentors don\u2019t like you they won\u2019t bother seeing you again.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Antulov adds: \u201cIt\u2019s best if both parties benefit. Being courteous is one way to give back, as it were. Often start-ups don\u2019t have cash or equity to give so courtesy goes a long way.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI had a meeting recently with someone whose office is 10 minutes away. Within eight minutes I had an email saying \u2018thank you for your time\u2019. That was all the thanks I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Unless you have an advisory board, which should cover all of the bases when it comes to the start-up advice you need, you will require your mentor to utilise his or her contacts to deliver specialist advice.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou will need a mentor who is well connected,\u201d says Antulov. \u201cAgain, LinkedIn is a good tool. I invariably check anyone I meet on there and I will call common links to find out about them.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat said, an hour with even a poorly-connected mentor should be of some value to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
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You may have a myriad of quandaries and problems that require counsel, but your mentor isn\u2019t a one-stop shop for all of your problems.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou want to discuss important strategic stuff with your mentor, not ask them which accountancy software to use,\u201d says Birt.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t waste your and their time. Ask them about your go-to market strategy, a partnership agreement you\u2019re considering, a rebrand or how to cut down a long sales cycle. Things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
6. More than one of them Having a trusted mentor you can turn to and confide in is valuable<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}