Take a Mentor to Lunch - Grow Your Business With the Help of a Business Mentor

In this highly-networked, fast-paced businessTIP - To make any business networking group
environment with weekly business networkingeffective, get to know persons of interest in the
meetings and social media posts bombarding ourgroup by meeting them 1-on-1; you never know,
senses 24/7... how can an entrepreneuryou might even find a mentor.
effectively connect with a mentor, one that canWhy lunch?
add substantive value to his or her business?Many times the mentor who has the skill,
Take them to lunch!knowledge or experience that you are hoping to
What is a mentor?glean is a very busy person. You must be
Loosely defined the modern mentor is a trustedrespectful of their time. This leads to several
friend, counselor or teacher; usually someone withreason why lunch is a good to way meet with a
more knowledge, skill or experience than yourself.mentor:
In business this can either be someone with a lot- Food - almost everybody eats lunch, even busy
of general business experience, one who haspeople
simply been around the block a few times, you- Free - everybody like a free lunch
know... been there, done that. Or it can be- Time - lunch limits the meeting to about an hour;
someone with a specific set of skills / knowledge,the mentor can feel comfortable knowing that
like business finance or how to set up Facebookthis will not be a huge time investment
fan page or even how to transplant a camellia- Safety - a lunch setting is public and safe
bush.- Equalizer - sitting across from someone at a
Personally, a mentor is any person who I feel islunch table is a neutral power position as opposed
successful in their field that may have someto the mentor sitting behind a desk
helpful information to help move me along my- Distractions - a lunch setting removes both the
path or avoid pitfalls. A mentor that can help withmentor and mentee from work distractions
the latter is golden. For me, that person is a- Cost Effective - lunch for two is many times
90-year-old, World War II fighter pilot andless expensive than dinner or drinks
business friend named Cat. He is the only person I- Psychological - you paid for lunch, they kinda
know that has been following and investing in theowe you
stock and precious metal markets for over 65It should be noted that even if your mentor
years. He has owned and operated severaldoesn't eat lunch, they typically will take a break
businesses, and can still make a small fortune induring that time to workout, go for a jog or a
silver due to his very personal understanding oftake bike ride, etc. That said, before you try to
long-term trends.keep up, consult with your physician before you
Where business networking falls shortstart an exercise program.
Business network groups seem to beHow to meet a mentor?
synonymous with sales and sometimes a bit ofI am a firm believer that you bring the teacher to
education, but rarely active mentoring. Taking ayou when you are open and ready to learn;
mentor to lunch is not about networking, it iswhether that teacher be a page in a book or a
about leveraging the knowledge that is inlive person. I have already touched on business
someone else's brain. If you want to find anetworking groups, however there are so many
mentor you must seek them out and with themore opportunities to meet potential mentors.
proper perspective, you can find mentors in thePlaces to find business mentors include:
business networking arena.Business networks
I sometimes hear small business owners complain- Colleagues
that chambers of commerce do not work. The- Senior management
chamber model does work if you understand how- Educational seminars (e.g. Brown Bag Lunches)
to take advantage of the resources provided. A- Trade association events
chamber of commerce is an advocate for local- Conventions / Conferences
businesses, however it is not in their mission to- Small Business Development Centers (SBDC)
feed you customers, nor do they turn you into a- Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)
business magnet. One thing that chambers do- Business training presentations (free or paid)
provide is the opportunity to interact with otherTIP - If you are at an presentation-type event,
business owners and chamber leadership. Youthe speaker may not be the mentor for you... it
must take it upon yourself to engage one-on-one;may be the person sitting right next to you.
both groups contain potential mentors.What if the prospective mentor says "no"?
In my case, in addition to being a ChamberOK, this is the normal dating fear. But to be
member, I joined Business Network Internationalhonest with you, I have never been turned down
(BNI) as well as a local business leadership group.by a potential mentor when I ask them to meet
With business success I outgrew BNI, howeverover lunch and tell them why. The "why" is
the main thing I took away from my experienceimportant, they need to know that you value
was that the real action occurs when you meettheir knowledge/experience and that you would
with a person outside of the weekly meetings, atlike to learn from it. Many times the mentor
lunch, over coffee, at the park, etc. BNI callscandidate will be very honored that you value
these one-on-one meetings a Dance Card. I oncetheir tenure and be happy to meet with you.
had a dance card meeting with a fellow businessAll you need to do is say, "Hey can I buy you
person while donating blood. Our schedules werelunch next week? I'd like to pick your brain about
very hard to match, so since I already had the_________ and I have been told you are the
appointment, we met at the blood bank andexpert." And don't forget, YOU can be someone
donated side-by-side so we could talk during theelse's mentor. Pay it forward.
blood letting. What can I say, I was able to"You are all learners, doers, and teachers.
leverage my time and donate for a good cause.