“The important thing about a problem is not its solution, but the strength we gain in finding the solution” Anonymous

“I don’t know anyone who fits the profile”. Do not worry you are not alone in your quest to find that perfect mentor. At this point many say….”It’s not worth it”, “It will take too much time” or “I will get one later”. You need to get rid of these thoughts as soon as possible. Nothing that is worth getting, is ever going to be easy at any point in life. It all comes down to how badly you want something. If being a successful entrepreneur is what you strive to be, then finding good mentors must be very high on your priority list.

You need to start gathering market intelligence on the movers and shakers in your industry, city and country. Look for individuals who have noteworthy experience in the industry you are currently operating in. Getting to these individuals requires much perseverance, which as I have mentioned countless times, is a characteristic that needs much working on, specially if you are an entrepreneur.

If you are planning on setting up an online book shop, Jeff Bezos is a natural choice. Given we can’t reach Jeff Bezos we have to find ways of finding people who he have worked closely with him. Searching through ‘first line of contacts’ usually closest connections to gauge if they know anyone who has worked with companies such as Amazon and Barnes & Nobles, also explore looking into those who have worked in the brick and mortar segment of this industry to get their insight and perspective as well. If you are unlucky with the immediate network use services such as linkedin or facebook to find those who could help you connect to the right individuals.

Using this example from my linkedin network I found someone who recently left Amazon as a SVP and joined Yahoo. She has more than 15 years of experience in this industry and is linked to me through my 2nd degree network. Now I have one name on my list, this process will continue till I have a list of names which can be tapped into. I will then decide the best approach to contact these individuals either through an email, a phone call or at a networking or industry event. Once you have decided on your approach get started and take one name at a time. Feeling nervous or even intimidated is a normal reaction. Be confident, have a clear purpose and you should do great. Give this all that you have got because the benefit of finding a good mentor can be the difference between success or failure of your startup.

Before you set out to find your mentor it is best to first develop a plan determining why you are getting a mentor and how you aim to benefit from this relationship. You have to understand that you want a favor from an individual who has little time to give . Keeping that in perspective, build a value proposition for them which clearly outlines what you are looking for, what sort of commitment is required and how both sides can mutually benefit from this relationship. Break it down to these 3 broad working categories .

1. Outline what you are looking for: This section requires you to clearly define the business that you operate in, it does not have to be a perfect model. Defining your business model is what you may want the mentor to help you with. The whole concept of this section is to help the mentor understand what you want to accomplish and your methodology for reaching those goals. Once you have outlined your objectives you can pinpoint certain segments where you require help. It could be with your business mode, sales, human resources, IT or just about any other part of your business you are having trouble with.

2. Outlining commitment: Keeping in mind that time is a scarce resource for mentors you need to clearly define how much time commitment is needed from them. It could be a telephone call once a year or it could be a 2 hour breakfast meeting every Saturday. Like all deals there will be negotiations and you will arrive at a commitment level which should be mutually acceptable to both parties.

3. Mutual Benefit: This section will differ from mentor to mentor. I have come across mentors who have helped me in the past in return for nothing, it was their way of giving back to society. Others have asked for certain monetary compensation while others have even requested for equity. The level of commitment really plays a key role in this section. If you want the mentor to give substantial attention to your business, you will have to come up with a situation in which both sides will be content .

Once you have all these sections planned you will have a clearer idea of what sort of skills your mentor needs to have, what level of commitment does he/she needs to give to the business and how you are going to make it worth his while. Now you are ready to go find yourselves a mentor!