{"id":38201,"date":"2021-07-07T10:37:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T14:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?p=38201"},"modified":"2021-07-07T10:37:56","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T14:37:56","slug":"do-you-need-a-business-mentor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Need A Business Mentor?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-38202\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021-1024x538.jpg\" alt=\"Do You Need A Business Mentor?\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021-1024x538.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021-768x403.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>As a small business owner, you\u2019ve likely encountered no shortage of folks willing to offer you advice. From teachers to friends to online communities, there is a lot of information out there to sift through (or completely ignore). With so many options, how do you know which pieces of advice to go with?<\/p>\n<p>A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free. They can help as you\u2019re expanding your business or thinking about making a big financial decision, for instance. And places like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.score.org\/\" class=\"broken_link\">Score.org<\/a> even boast a huge network of free business mentors you can choose from yourself.<\/p>\n<p>Since you\u2019re the small business owner, it\u2019s not like there is anyone above your ranks who you can lean on for advice. That\u2019s where a mentor comes in handy: as someone you can pitch ideas to, ask for strategy tips, and more. Mentors are also a great source of \u201clife lessons.\u201d In having experience in the small business world, they likely have a lot of wisdom they can impart\u2014what works, what doesn\u2019t, and what to watch out for. Working with a business mentor through your challenges and opportunities ultimately fosters a foundation of trust between the two of you. It\u2019s important to the success of your business if you have a reliable confidante in your corner (one that doesn\u2019t have an agenda or a product to sell you).<\/p>\n<p>A great mentor will work to turn you into a great leader\u2014or improve upon your existing leadership skills, so you can reach your fullest potential. These are the people you turn to in times of hardship,<\/p>\n<p>when you need personal support, etc. The main goal of a business mentor is help grow your career.<\/p>\n<p>As a mentee, your role is to own and nurture the mentor\/mentee relationship. You are in charge of your career\u2014not your business mentor. So be sure you\u2019re setting up a regular cadence of meetings, and be proactive about your career development. Another pointer is to determine some objectives for your mentor relationship&#8211;something you can reference on an ongoing basis and work toward. Share these objectives with your mentor and check in on their progress frequently. A great business mentor will keep you on track with your goals, hold you accountable, and serve as an ear to offer up advice on navigating challenges. Think of them as a coach.<\/p>\n<p>There are also a lot of upshots to being a business mentor. Mentors are doing good for their community when engaging with local small business owners; when the small businesses thrive, so does the local economy. Additionally, mentoring is a great way to dip a toe into teaching or consulting. It\u2019s truly a win-win all around.<\/p>\n<p>Consider doing some research on whether or not you could benefit from a business mentor. Try talking to some folks in your network, and ask if anyone has pointers or recommendations. And remember that the loan experts at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?urlsource=blog\">ARF Financial<\/a> are like financial mentors for your company\u2014if you\u2019re ready for a loan, trust our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/company\/our-team\/loan-consulting-team\/?urlsource=blog\">team of pros<\/a> to help you navigate the waters of securing the funding you need to thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As a small business owner, you\u2019ve likely encountered no shortage&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[128,698],"tags":[398,402,386,827,535,220,213,818,401,224,222,172,819,311,226,454,142],"class_list":{"0":"post-38201","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-day-to-day-business-operations","8":"category-small-business-financing","9":"tag-affordable-business-loans","10":"tag-affordable-small-business-growth","11":"tag-business-loans","12":"tag-do-you-need-a-business-mentor","13":"tag-equipment-leasing","14":"tag-flex-pay-loans","15":"tag-line-of-credit","16":"tag-small-business-business-loans","17":"tag-small-business-expansion","18":"tag-small-business-financing","19":"tag-small-business-funding","20":"tag-small-business-growth","21":"tag-small-business-leasing","22":"tag-small-business-line-of-credit","23":"tag-small-business-loans","24":"tag-small-business-marketing","25":"tag-working-capital"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do You Need A Business Mentor? - ARF Financial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do You Need A Business Mentor? A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Need A Business Mentor? - ARF Financial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do You Need A Business Mentor? A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ARF Financial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-07T14:37:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-07T14:37:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robert Whited\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robert Whited\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Robert Whited\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/person\/ab727372fcd4ff548d759472b7c7fecc\"},\"headline\":\"Do You Need A Business Mentor?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-07T14:37:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-07T14:37:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\"},\"wordCount\":548,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"affordable business loans\",\"affordable small business growth\",\"business loans\",\"Do You Need A Business Mentor?\",\"equipment leasing\",\"flex pay loans\",\"line of credit\",\"small business business loans\",\"small business expansion\",\"small business financing\",\"small business funding\",\"small business growth\",\"small business leasing\",\"small business line of credit\",\"small business loans\",\"small business marketing\",\"working capital\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Day-to-Day Business Operations\",\"Small Business Financing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\",\"name\":\"Do You Need A Business Mentor? - ARF Financial\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-07T14:37:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-07T14:37:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do You Need A Business Mentor? A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Do You Need A Business Mentor?\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Do You Need A Business Mentor?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/\",\"name\":\"ARF Financial\",\"description\":\"Businesses Bank on Us\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ARF Financial LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ARFFinancialHorizontal.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ARFFinancialHorizontal.png\",\"width\":792,\"height\":612,\"caption\":\"ARF Financial LLC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/person\/ab727372fcd4ff548d759472b7c7fecc\",\"name\":\"Robert Whited\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c48be6a0ddfcae4b85fd444fdab27d247b8fef19292a5249b0340af7e31ea9a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c48be6a0ddfcae4b85fd444fdab27d247b8fef19292a5249b0340af7e31ea9a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Robert Whited\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/author\/robert\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do You Need A Business Mentor? - ARF Financial","description":"Do You Need A Business Mentor? A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do You Need A Business Mentor? - ARF Financial","og_description":"Do You Need A Business Mentor? A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/","og_site_name":"ARF Financial","article_published_time":"2021-07-07T14:37:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-07T14:37:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Robert Whited","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Robert Whited","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/"},"author":{"name":"Robert Whited","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/person\/ab727372fcd4ff548d759472b7c7fecc"},"headline":"Do You Need A Business Mentor?","datePublished":"2021-07-07T14:37:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-07T14:37:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/"},"wordCount":548,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg","keywords":["affordable business loans","affordable small business growth","business loans","Do You Need A Business Mentor?","equipment leasing","flex pay loans","line of credit","small business business loans","small business expansion","small business financing","small business funding","small business growth","small business leasing","small business line of credit","small business loans","small business marketing","working capital"],"articleSection":["Day-to-Day Business Operations","Small Business Financing"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/","url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/","name":"Do You Need A Business Mentor? - ARF Financial","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg","datePublished":"2021-07-07T14:37:27+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-07T14:37:56+00:00","description":"Do You Need A Business Mentor? A business mentor is someone with more experience in the industry who offers you business advice, typically for free.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ARF-Blog-07072021.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Do You Need A Business Mentor?"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/do-you-need-a-business-mentor\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do You Need A Business Mentor?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/","name":"ARF Financial","description":"Businesses Bank on Us","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#organization","name":"ARF Financial LLC","url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ARFFinancialHorizontal.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/ARFFinancialHorizontal.png","width":792,"height":612,"caption":"ARF Financial LLC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/person\/ab727372fcd4ff548d759472b7c7fecc","name":"Robert Whited","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c48be6a0ddfcae4b85fd444fdab27d247b8fef19292a5249b0340af7e31ea9a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c48be6a0ddfcae4b85fd444fdab27d247b8fef19292a5249b0340af7e31ea9a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Robert Whited"},"url":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/author\/robert\/"}]}},"menu_order":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38201"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38204,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38201\/revisions\/38204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}