I have been a coach for eight years now. Initially taking only corporate assignments but later when I donned the hat of an entrepreneur, I increasingly started engaging with the startup community. For pretty long I stuck to ‘coaching’ startups but over a period of time realized, what startups really need is a combination of coaching plus mentoring. A coach can help you rewire your thinking and find answers to your challenges, but keeps away from advising. However, mentoring is guiding the mentee through right directions by sharing tips and actionable advice by someone who probably has had a similar journey.

Why Startups need Mentoring + Coaching?

For the sheer stubbornness to succeed: Study Google statistics & reports and you will be amazed to find the very high percentage of startup failure. What once starts with passion soon gets smeared with problems, challenges and doubts.

It’s then that mentors help you remain focused, advise you without being emotionally attached to any decision, are ruthless when it comes to strategy, numbers and help you drive accountability. This is help in disguise as it keeps the engine running with maximum efficiency.

To manage the overwhelming vastness of job responsibilities: As an entrepreneur you are the dreamer as well as the doer. From managing your office to business planning, managing your social media presence, selling, marketing, accounting and I can continue with the list. Phew!! Just too much work!

It is very easy to get lost in the operations and minutiae of running a startup. And this is where the first step of failure crawls in. A mentor helps put vision and actions in perspective, helps you break down milestones and prioritize, guides you to manage different aspects of running the show and keeps you motivated and charged up for the long journey ahead.

Help execute the imperfect plan: Its a common trait in entrepreneurs to wait for the perfect plan. But in life and in business there are no perfect plans, there are only imperfect good plans. Procrastination and waiting for perfection is one of the biggest reasons of failures. Mentors can help you take timely decisions, infuse the required confidence to take the plunge.

So, if you are a startup, go and seek out mentors for yourself. Of course, as entrepreneurs we are confident, we are bold but many a time over confidence stops us from seeking advice and assistance. Seek mentors. They might be the engine oil that your startup needs desperately!