Learning from My Mentors: Four sobering lessons

By Melanie K

I’ve mentioned in a previous post that it was time to add some mentors into my self-education on starting and owning a small business. While the books I’ve read are great, it’s very important to get some real-life sobering facts about self-employment. And boy did I ever get a reality check! Here are some of the things I learned about self-employment from family, former employers and business acquaintances – all women who run a wide range of businesses.

(1) One of my mentors and her husband have operated a home-based service business for over 30 years and raised 2 children in the process. She stressed the need for “bread and butter” work and to hire employees to do as much of it as possible to make a profit. “Having both us in the same industry made it tougher and we needed one part of the business to be providing income regularly – any additional work was icing on the cake.”

(2) Another mentor was self-employed as a technical writer for several years, working for her former employer as a contractor so that she could have more autonomy. “ I learned that having all your eggs in one basket was not a good business model” she explained. “Be sure to have a diverse set of clients when you start out because it’s hard to build those networks while you are busy getting the work done”.

(3) A former employer of mine owns and operates a local retail business. “Don’t quit your day job at first.” She warned, “ …and don’t do it for the money, do it for the freedom.”

(4) My income tax is done by a small home-based bookkeeping service that is owned by a woman who is now expanding her operation. “If your spouse has a solid job then it makes things a little easier” she says, “and start as soon as you can - I wish I would have started sooner than I did!”


Have you had a mentor give you good business advice?