"Finding a good mentor is like being the 6th guy back crossing the minefield of business. If it's a muddy day, you're going to step in the footprints of that 5th person ahead of you that's made it across and succeeded..."

This is a quote from my husband and I's business mentor. He was in the military, so a lot of his business analogies are based in it. It's always made learning from him interesting.

I think the minefield example is a very vivid illustration of why having a mentor is so important. A lot of small businesses fail because they don't listen to the failures and successes of more experienced people. When starting any business, it is an excellent idea to find at least one mentor who can help guide you through the process. According to your personal situation and industry, it varies on how easy or hard it is to find a good mentor. Here are some ideas however that I believe are helpful:

1) Don't limit yourself to someone doing exactly the same thing as you.

When you can find someone in your exact field that is willing to help you, don't take it for granted. Keep in mind they're taking a risk in training a potential competitor. The exception to this is with franchises, where there is usually a financial incentive to tell someone everything you know. Those are win-win situations.

What I mean by this however is that general business principles have a lot of carryover across industries. For example, I personally learned a lot about business from owners of a small movie theater and another retail store owner. I currently own neither of those types of businesses, but I have been able to take those lessons and apply them to my benefit in online business. You can waste a lot of time searching for the "ideal" mentor and miss a good person right in front of you.

2) Having more than one mentor will help you gain perspective.

My husband and I are getting a lot of mentorship from two of our best friends, also a husband and wife who have a large online business. One of the things they did however was introduce us to other business owners as well. That has been very helpful in that different people have expertise in certain areas of business. Talking with enough people will help real-life business concepts fall into place like puzzle pieces.

3) Don't ignore books and other resources.

Obviously it's a lot nicer to have someone to bounce ideas off of in person, but you may be in a position where that's not possible. This is where I had to start because I didn't know any business owners personally in my family or immediate circle of friends as a teenager.

You can learn a lot about a person's thought process however through their books. If you read enough books by a certain business author, you do develop a feel for what they would say if you were to ask them a question.

4) Sometimes mentorship comes in small moments.

When it comes to asking someone to give you advice, sometimes the easiest thing to do is just be honest in that you could use some help. Offer to take the person out for coffee or out to eat in exchange for letting you "pick their brain" about business. Even if they don't have a lot of time, most people will at least make an effort to help you as long as it won't hurt their own business.

5) Consider joining local groups or associations where you can get around other business owners.

Over time, people become just like the people they hang around. This concept should either make you happy or scare you. Just being around other people who have dreams and goals is helpful because friendships develop in wanting to see each other win. If you can find a good group of people to be around, it's worth doing. Out of that you may find a good mentor and friend.