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44 	MAKE	 FRIENDS	 WITH	 A	 MENTOR

Franklin	 thought	 the	 principle	 of	 learning	 from	 other	 people’s	 mistakes
was	 such	 a	 good	 idea	 he	 opted	 to	 say	 it	 all	 over	 again—in	 Latin.	 ‘Felix
quem	 faciunt	 aliena	 pericula	 cautum’,	 he	 intoned	 which,	 if	 your	 Latin	 is
a	 little	 rusty,	 roughly	 translates	 as	 ‘happy	 is	 he	 who	 learns	 caution
from	 the	 perils	 of	 other	 people’.

Worst-case	 scenarios	 are	 helpful	 but	 there’s	 a	 less	 painful	 way	 of	 learning
from	 others	 than	 drawing	 them	 up.	 Franklin’s	 point	 that	 ‘wise	 men	 learn	 by
others’	 harms’	 is	 the	 thinking	 behind	 the	 whole	 process	 of	 mentoring	 which
is	 rapidly	 gaining	 popularity	 as	 an	 alternative	 to	 traditional	 consultancy.

   DEFINING	 IDEA…
   Learn	 from	 the	 mistakes	 of	 others.	 You	 can’t	 live	 long	 enough	 to
   make	 them	 all	 yourself.
   ~	 ELEANOR	 ROOSEVELT

If	 you’re	 running	 an	 SME	 then	 a	 business	 mentor	 provides	 a	 number	 of
roles.	 They	 are	 a	 sounding	 board	 for	 your	 ideas	 and	 a	 trusted	 third	 party
ready	 with	 unbiased	 opinions	 about	 the	 wisdom	 of	 your	 plans.	 They	 also	 go
a	 long	 way	 to	 easing	 the	 loneliness	 that	 goes	 with	 shouldering	 an	 SME	 on
your	 own.	 After	 all,	 who	 else	 can	 you	 freely	 turn	 to?	 Of	 course	 you	 have	 a
bank	 manager,	 friends	 and	 family	 but,	 unlike	 all	 of	 them,	 a	 mentor	 really
does	 want	 to	 talk	 about	 your	 business	 and	 is	 happy	 to	 spare	 whatever	 time
that	 takes.

But	 most	 of	 all	 they’ve	 been	 there,	 done	 that	 and	 got	 the	 T-shirt.	 Which
means	 they	 bring	 with	 them	 all	 of	 the	 mistakes	 they	 themselves	 made	 and
the	 answers	 to	 those	 mistakes,	 without	 you	 having	 to	 go	 through	 that
painful	 process	 yourself.	 A	 mentor	 also	 brings	 with	 them	 all	 the	 networking
contacts	 they	 have	 made	 during	 the	 course	 of	 their	 own	 entrepreneurial
activities	 which	 can	 prove	 an	 invaluable	 short	 cut	 for	 the	 SME	 in	 a	 hurry.

Typically	 a	 mentor	 is	 someone	 who	 has	 ‘made	 it’,	 in	 whatever	 terms	 they
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