How to Choose a Mentor to Help Guide Your Retail Business

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How to Choose a Mentor to Help Guide Your Retail Business

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By : Robert Howard 19 or more times read

Submitted 2011-08-07 22:43:28

Retail business owners and managers can benefit from a good mentor, someone who challenges the business to think outside the square and to reach for goals beyond those covered in a business plan.

The right mentor will be part confessor, part coach, part devil's advocate and part leader. The challenge is finding the mentor who is right for the business.

If you are considering getting a mentor for the business, get other key employees together and discuss the ideas. Share what you would each be looking for in a mentor. Challenge each other to justify the attributes they hold dear.

What you need out of this group discussion is a view of a mentor who will really challenge the business. If you want to go with someone safe who makes you feel good why get a mentor at all

A good mentor must help the business over achieve on its goals. They must help the business achieve rewards previously not considered or considered unattainable.

This is why the choice of mentor is critical and must be approached from the perspective of what the business needs rather than what you and others involved would like or enjoy.

In considering a mentor, consider the following tips

Prepare a brief of what you are looking for. This will help mentors to evaluate whether they want to work with you. The choice is as much theirs as it is yours.
Talk to references. Mentors should welcome you talking with other recent clients.
Have prospective mentors meet all your team members.
Discuss how far they are prepared to push. There is no point engaging a mentor who will not challenge the business and those who work for it.
Invite suggestions. While professional business mentors will not want to give away too much free advice, they may be prepared to share an insight into their thinking which lets you see the direction they are headed.
Don't look for a friend. Hiring a mentor is a business decision. It is best to keep the relationship on a business footing. Keeping it professional keeps both parties focused on the goal at hand.

Make sure the contract has an easy get out. It may not be until you have been working with a mentor for some months that you find the fit is not right for some reason. The contract needs to have a mechanism through which you can separate without too much expense.

In deciding to being a mentor into the business you must know what you want whether it is to fix or improve a situation or grow the business. Once you have the mentor in place, ensure that every possible resource is available to ensure that the goals are met and that the experience is truly rewarding for all involved.

A good mentor will open the business to new possibilities and ensure that those involved develop personally and professionally along the way.

Author Resource:- submit article has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Retail Business
You can also check out her latest website about :
wholesale gift suppliersWhich reviews and lists the best
Wholesale Bone Carvings

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'>; <html><head><title>Article2008.com | How to Choose a Mentor to Help Guide Your Retail Business</title></head><body><h3>How to Choose a Mentor to Help Guide Your Retail Business</h3> By: Robert Howard Retail business owners and managers can benefit from a good mentor, someone who challenges the business to think outside the square and to reach for goals beyond those covered in a business plan. The right mentor will be part confessor, part coach, part devil's advocate and part leader. The challenge is finding the mentor who is right for the business. If you are considering getting a mentor for the business, get other key employees together and discuss the ideas. Share what you would each be looking for in a mentor. Challenge each other to justify the attributes they hold dear. What you need out of this group discussion is a view of a mentor who will really challenge the business. If you want to go with someone safe who makes you feel good why get a mentor at all A good mentor must help the business over achieve on its goals. They must help the business achieve rewards previously not considered or considered unattainable. This is why the choice of mentor is critical and must be approached from the perspective of what the business needs rather than what you and others involved would like or enjoy. In considering a mentor, consider the following tips <pre><code>Prepare a brief of what you are looking for. This will help mentors to evaluate whether they want to work with you. The choice is as much theirs as it is yours. Talk to references. Mentors should welcome you talking with other recent clients. Have prospective mentors meet all your team members. Discuss how far they are prepared to push. There is no point engaging a mentor who will not challenge the business and those who work for it. Invite suggestions. While professional business mentors will not want to give away too much free advice, they may be prepared to share an insight into their thinking which lets you see the direction they are headed. Don't look for a friend. Hiring a mentor is a business decision. It is best to keep the relationship on a business footing. Keeping it professional keeps both parties focused on the goal at hand. </pre></code> Make sure the contract has an easy get out. It may not be until you have been working with a mentor for some months that you find the fit is not right for some reason. The contract needs to have a mechanism through which you can separate without too much expense. In deciding to being a mentor into the business you must know what you want whether it is to fix or improve a situation or grow the business. Once you have the mentor in place, ensure that every possible resource is available to ensure that the goals are met and that the experience is truly rewarding for all involved. A good mentor will open the business to new possibilities and ensure that those involved develop personally and professionally along the way. Author Resource:-> submit article has been writing articles online for nearly 2 years now. Not only does this author specialize in Retail Business You can also check out her latest website about : <a href="http://www.worldbuyers.com/">wholesale gift suppliers</a>Which reviews and lists the best <a href="http://www.worldbuyers.com/Cat-24-1-56/Bone%20Carvings.htm">Wholesale Bone Carvings</a> Article From <a href='http://article2008.com/'>Article2008.com</a> </body></html>

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