In the entrepreneurial world, guidance is often an invaluable asset. The truth is, many successful entrepreneurs had good mentors that helped, advised, and supported them through their journey of starting a small business. Mentorship is essential because it guides the mentee through their early-stage startups and influences the decision-making process that can eventually lead to the success of the founder’s business. If you’re wondering how to mentor a startup, we’re proud to provide guidance so you can help small businesses thrive through valuable insights. 

What is a Mentor?

In a startup ecosystem, a mentor is someone who guides entrepreneurs by sharing their knowledge through years of experience and helping them grow their small business. The types of teachings and tasks that a mentor shares with a mentee can include establishing business goals, sharing contacts, and supporting the commercial work.

“Mentoring is a valuable resource for entrepreneurs to gain relevant business insight, guidance, and feedback about their product or service. A mentor and mentee connection is a rewarding experience that truly allows our business ecosystem to continue to flourish.” 

—Sharita M. Humphrey, Nationally-Recognized Money Mentor

How to Become a Practical Mentor

There are four steps that a mentor needs to take when helping a mentee with their startup:

Step 1: Hold a meeting with the mentee

Before actually beginning your mentorship journey, it’s critical that you get to know your mentee first and learn about the business they want to start. How will your expertise help their startup grow? What can you offer to them? Having a preliminary conversation with your potential mentee will help answer these questions and help you decide whether you will be the right fit for them.

Step 2: Advise them

This might be a no-brainer, but it’s important to remember that your role as a mentor is to advise your mentee and not implement any decisions yourself. Your goal isn’t to tell them what to do, but rather advise them in ways that can help them reach their goals.

Step 3: Share your contacts

Networking can go a long way. This can be said for just about any career one finds themselves in. As a mentor, it’s clear that you hold years of experience with others in the same business. Assist others with their startup by connecting them with an investor who may be interested.

Step 4: Give feedback

Similar to giving advice, providing feedback helps your mentee reach their startup goals. Share critical observations and insights with them through numbers and past mentorship experiences. An important part of giving feedback is to do it without criticizing. While it’s necessary to be honest with your mentee, you should avoid harsh remarks and focus on providing constructive feedback that will help the mentee reach their objective. 

“As part of our certification as Certified SCORE Mentors, we learn the concept of SLATE:

S for stop judging—do not judge before you understand what the mentee is up to.

L for listening, and asking clarifying questions to better understand what he wants to do.

A for analyzing together the good, the bad, the opportunities. 

T for testing the idea or concept with others, or a farmers market, or a first customer, and learning.

E for evaluating, planning, fundraising, planning, starting, planning, growing customer base, …”

—Willy Verbrugghe, Certified SCORE Mentor

The Mentor-Mentee Relationship

Like many relationships, this one is built on trust and effort from both parties. The business can reach success if the mentor and the mentee listen and learn from one another. A few key questions you should ask yourself are: How can you help your mentee reach success? How will you help them overcome obstacles? What is something you can offer them that others can’t? Being a mentor can sometimes be a challenging task, but there are numerous practices that can help you reach your objective as their guidance:

• Talk from experience and always be honest 
• Establish a trusting relationship
• Bring credibility and a good reputation to the startup
• Develop resources
• Assist with creating strategic plans for the business

Why You Should Consider Being a Mentor

Being a mentor can lead to many different opportunities in your personal career as you are more likely to get hired or promoted than employees who do not have mentorship experience. Becoming a mentor can also strengthen your leadership skills as it enables you to become a master of what you teach. As you work hard to help your mentee with their startup business, you will soon push yourself to grow as a leader—something that is always needed in a world of entrepreneurs. In the end, the biggest reward that comes from being a mentor is helping shape the future leaders of successful entrepreneurship. 

How Do I Find a Business Startup Mentor?

A startup community platform is one of the best ways to find mentor(s) for your small business. At The Cannon, we offer a startup platform, Cannon Connect, providing an Advisor Network for young entrepreneurs to build professional relationships with well-experienced mentors who are ready to guide founders through their early-stage startups. 

Are you ready to build a mentor-mentee relationship? Or want more support on how to mentor a startup? Join Cannon Connect to network with other advisors and seasoned entrepreneurs in our Advisor Network!