Benefits of Having a Mentor in Startup?

This article is contributed by multiple Startup founders from different fields.

It is very likely that in your entrepreneurial journey, you will find a need for a mentor and somehow will get yourself one as well. They will guide you, advise you, cheer you, inspire you, and will give you confidence when you are in dire need of some. Apart from all these benefits, there are other benefits of having a mentor as well.

In this article, we will talk about how having a mentor really helps us. Some of the successful entrepreneurs shared their views on this topic. Let's take a look.

Manav Shah  | Founder, Eduvacancy

Personally, my mentor helps me in maintaining a work-life balance. I have learned the concept of not burning out from my mentor. It is extremely critical to take small breaks and explore life. This really helps me personally as it allows me time to think and retrospect in general about various critical decisions I have made in the past and the ones I need to make. Also, the idea of taking time off and analysing situations is something that my mentor has taught me. My mentor has taught me the importance to devote time to any sports or physical activity, which in turn has led to a more focused and productive daily output for me.

While professionally, my mentor has been a pillar of strength for me. He guides and helps me in making challenging decisions. More importantly, he has taught me the value of evaluating every decision I make. Through the concept evaluation, I measure and track the number of accurate decisions I make. This helps me to understand what worked for my startup and what dint. He helps me in setting the right culture in my organization. If you want to achieve the scale, it is extremely important to set the right culture. An important aspect my mentor continuously teaches me is to respect and accept every idea.

Kunal Ahirwar | CEO & Co-Founder, Earnvestt Technologies

Tanul and Kruti have been pivotal in our growth as a team, our company, and our personal growth for each and every one of us. They have given us a thought process, a methodology for building and tracking our progress. They have given us important interventions and helped us correct course whenever needed.

Utkarsh Gupta | Managing Director, Ramagya Mart

A mentor is not a teacher but a guide and is present with me at every business decision juncture involving resources. Resource today means time, money, and people.  My mentor is like a listening wall to me; a sounding board that has a talking back ability with data, rationale, and logic.

Someone that can point the positives and negatives, be strong enough to tell you this will work and this won't. It is someone who is in a position to tell you with facts and figures if what you are doing will act like a boomerang. It is someone that tells you let's do it; we are in it to win it. I am blessed to have a mentor that makes everything look so effortless and easy. Due to such mentoring, I am at peace personally and professionally.

Neha Indoria | Co-Founder, Boingg!

Professionally, speaking to folks who have experience in a specific field of business/ have faced similar problems in a different business helps one get ideas to navigate the problem & find creative solutions. Personally, it’s just a great motivating factor. When overwhelmed with a problem, being able to talk to someone who tells you that they have been there and seen similar problems elsewhere, and tells you that you are not alone and that this too shall pass.

Pallavi Utagi | Founder & Mom-in Chief, SuperBottoms

As we bring our whole selves to work every day, the lines between professional
and personally, get blurred sometimes. In personal lives, one chooses to seek out the ones who know us deeply. Usually the teachers or professors from student lives.
Professionally also, the investors also keep you real. They call you out when
something is not right and at the same time, they are also the wind beneath a
founder’s wings. They also add great value in connecting you with the right people,
helping you build a roadmap and provide a safe sounding board. Also considering
that there are Gen-Z in the workforce who bring a completely different mindset,
reverse mentoring can also help massively. I reach out to the youngsters in the
organisation from time to time.

Ritesh Ujjwal | CEO & Co-Founder, Kofluence

Mentors contribute in multiple ways and it can be contextual or acting as sounding
board or to help clarify the thoughts. The sample case in point is let’s say, you’ve successfully travelled a journey from 0 to 1 and you need guidance to get from 1 to 10. Mentors who have chartered the path (Need not be from the same industry) will be instrumental in helping understand the big picture, provide guidance on approach and key levers along with risks.

Conclusion

Apart from all these benefits, mentors can help in other things as well. Entrepreneurs will definitely realise that when they decide to get a mentor for themselves. When you have a mentor, not only if they give you advise regarding your business but they will also help you in creating a proper work-life balance.