Ella Woodward

Sharing Your Knowledge: How To Become A Business Mentor

Sharing your knowledge with the next generation of business leaders and innovators is an exciting prospect for any seasoned professional, but it can be hard to know where to start. Here’s my guide to becoming a business mentor and passing your legacy on to the businesspeople who are going to drive the corporate market towards future success.

Work Out What Skills And Knowledge You Want To Impart

You might think that you know a lot about what your own skills are, but it’s important that you examine your skills in detail and think hard about who you’d want to mentor and how you’d be able to help them. For example, you might have strong skills in a number of areas like negotiation, finance and business acquisition, but after you’ve thought about it you decide that you only want to mentor people in negotiation. You may not enjoy one area of your skillset as much as another, or you may simply want to focus on one particular skill. Whatever your reasons, make sure that you are transparent and know what you’re doing from the beginning.

Build Yourself A Reputation For Business Innovation

Initially, you need to show the business community that you’re worth considering as a business mentor, and that means showing them your credentials. Use professional networking events and business-focused social media sites like LinkedIn to connect with fellow professionals in your sector and make them aware of your experience. As you build your network you will be able to meet new people who may potentially become mentees, so it’s important that you show yourself in a positive light and showcase the benefits of working alongside someone as experienced as you are.

Share Your Knowledge Widely

Another way to prove your professional credentials is to share your knowledge by writing a book or speaking at an industry event. This will show that you have expertise and insight that others want to learn and will help you to share your ideas and thoughts with a wider audience. Attending events as a speaker could also help you to meet new industry contacts and potential mentees, so take every opportunity that you can.

An easy way to find someone to support is to speak to your colleagues in your current organisation and see if any of them are keen to emulate your success. They might already be a friend, in which case it’ll be even easier to work with them and help drive their career forward.

Use An Online Platform To Find Mentees

If you don’t naturally find someone in your network or organisation who wants to be your mentee then use an online platform like mentorsme to find someone who wants to share your experience and use it to improve their career and business prospects. It might take some time to find the right person, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

Manage Their Expectations

When you do eventually find someone to mentor, it’s important that you lay out the ground rules from the beginning and make it clear what they can expect to get out of you, and what they need to do in order to make the most out of your help. Sometimes mentees may have unrealistic expectations and expect that you can fix their issues overnight and drive them to the success they expect within weeks. Make sure that you give them an overview of what you’re able to do for them and make them aware of exactly how you can help them.

Try To Be Supportive

During your time as a mentor, your mentee may face challenges and become stressed, so it’s important that you’re sympathetic and try your best to support them and give them advice even if they’re not keen to hear it. Try not to get frustrated if your mentee doesn’t take your advice, or if their situation worsens and they become frustrated themselves. You are the mentor, and as such you need to be a positive influence even through hard times.

Making Business Mentoring A Business

If you want to share your knowledge and make some money then you can charge new businesses and young professionals for the benefit of your expertise, but this takes time and effort. You need to make sure that you’re able to prove the benefit of your expertise so that potential clients see the value in paying you to work with them. One great way to show that you’re a reputable mentor is to become a member of the Association of Business Mentors, so that potential clients can see that you are a reputable source of support and guidance.

If you’re looking to become a business mentor then it’s important that you remember that, just like any business, this new venture will take time to flourish. Be patient and follow these tips and you should be able to help someone else to use your knowledge to their advantage.