A mentor is someone who has been been down the same path you’re taking. A mentor is experienced, successful and willing to provide advice and guidance–for no real personal gain.

But how do you find a mentor? Here are some steps for finding and working with a mentor for your new small business venture.

Government-Sponsored Mentor Organizations

You might be surprised, but the government offers a great deal of free resources and services to support small business owners, both online and locally.

The following are some organizations you can reach out to:

• SCORE: Provides free and confidential counseling, mentoring and advice to small business owners nationwide via its network of more than 12,400 retired business executives, leaders and volunteers. SCORE is sponsored by SBA and has volunteers share their expertise through in-person and online counseling.
• Small Business Development Centers: Provides management assistance to current and prospective small business owners.
• Women’s Business Centers: Provides business training, counseling and other resources to help women start and grow successful businesses.
• Minority Business Development Centers: Part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Minority Business Development Agency was created specifically to foster the establishment and growth of minority-owned businesses in America, with more than 40 centers nationwide.

Trade Associations

Many trade associations operate mentor/protégé programs that provide guidance to help you build your business. These mentoring programs are often conducted through a combination of formal one-on-one mentoring sessions and group networking and discussion opportunities with fellow protégés. Business owners might be connected with several different mentors over a period of several months to gain a more holistic experience.

Most industries are represented by trade associations, as are genders, ethnic groups and business types. If you need help finding a trade association, consult any internet search engine.

Mentoring for Government Contractors

If your business plans to sell anything to the federal government, you know that it can be tough to get started. The good news is that the General Services Administration (GSA) offers a Mentor/Protégé Program that is specifically designed to encourage prime contractors to help small businesses be more successful in government contracting and enhance their ability to perform successfully on government contracts and subcontracts.

Look to Your Network

Who do you know? Is there a previous boss who was very inspiring to you or a friend who is a business owner? Ask that person to be your mentor or share his or her successes and struggles. You have nothing to lose. Just be prepared to share with them why you chose them in particular, your goals and what you are looking for from them.

One of the best ways to find a mentor who knows your industry, your community and comes with a great referral is to use your network.

Working with a Mentor

If you decide to work with a mentoring organization, ensure there is a formal mentor/protégé structure in place.

If you are working with an individual you will need to work together to establish a mutually beneficial structured relationship.

The following are some tips to remember about mentoring:

• Be organized, prepared and consistent. No one wants to waste their time. Time is precious.
• Plan your mentoring sessions in advance. These could be as simple as having a one-on-one consultation or lunch meeting once a month to discuss where you are against your business goals, how best to tackle business obstacles, getting advice on business processes or regulatory requirements that you don’t understand, and so on.
• Casual one-on-one sessions are good, but also have more structured sessions that address different aspects of starting, running, managing and growing your business. See 20 Questions for Starting Your Business, 5 Steps to Registering Your Business, and Forecasting for Growth for some ideas.

She thought what if you could hard-boil eggs in a heat-resistant, egg-shaped container that prevented hairline fractures and meant you no longer had to pick and peel eggshells?

Many of us have had that “What if?” moment, but then we need to figure out what comes next. Kaufman decided to submit her “Egg Toss” idea into Edison Nation’s search for top As Seen on TV (ASOTV) product ideas. She didn’t have a CAD drawing or a minute of video; rather, she had a well-explained, well-written description of her egg-making concept.

Edison Nation and its ASOTV partner selected her idea and developed the product into what is now known as Eggies. The popular kitchen gadget is found in retailers nationwide, and to date, more than 1 million Eggies have been sold. Kaufman—listed as an inventor on the patents—splits the royalties with Edison Nation.

If you’ve ever had an “aha” moment like Betsy’s but lacked the knowledge and resources to make your idea a reality, you’re not alone.

In a recent survey, more than 90 percent of respondents believe it is a difficult process to bring an invention to the store shelf. Seventy-five percent cited money and not knowing how as the main reasons they had previously not been able to bring an idea to market, and 81 percent of those surveyed said in the past they’ve had a great idea that they didn’t pursue only to later see it successfully come to market.

This is where inventors’ communities such as Edison Nation come in. “Edison Nation levels the playing field between idea people and real inventors,” said Kaufman.

An inventors’ community can help ordinary people bring their ideas to fruition, and Edison Nation actively seeks these ideas for products that could end up on store shelves. As is the case with Kaufman, if you can describe an idea or simply draw it on a napkin, it may be brought to market through Edison Nation’s capabilities. It costs nothing to join the online community and just $25 to submit an idea to most searches.

The company partners directly with manufacturers and retailers, such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Rawlings Sporting Goods, that have an innovation need.

For example, if Bed Bath & Beyond is looking for new dorm room products, Edison Nation posts criteria for this product search, and its members can submit their ideas to be considered. If an idea is selected for licensing by Bed Bath & Beyond, Edison Nation gives the inventor an advance on future royalties, which will be split 50/50 between the inventor and Edison Nation. The cost of bringing a product to market can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In addition, through the operation of a $25 million innovation fund, Edison Nation is able to develop and license ideas and innovations. Edison Nation handles everything from patenting, prototyping and all steps involved in validating ideas and getting them to the store shelf, all at no additional cost to the inventor.

To date, the company has discovered and developed 35-plus products, including Kaufman’s Eggies and other top sellers such as the Gyro Bowl, Mister Steamy, and Emery Cat Board. Together, these products have sold more than $175 million without any of the inventors taking the risk of cashing in 401(k)s or quitting their jobs to make these dreams come true.

Most recently, Edison Nation partnered with the Boy Scouts of America for an “Innovation Challenge” to inspire young minds to submit creative new product ideas. It also partnered with Daymond John, the sought-after new business consultant known for his role on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and as CEO of FUBU, to present an opportunity for people with innovative product ideas to pursue licensing and commercial success. Finally, Fisher-Price partnered with Edison Nation to find innovative ideas for mechanical dolls, plush and plastic characters with compelling, entertaining and interactive features that will make them the next must-have item.

To learn more about Edison Nation, sign up for a free account or simply to take a look at what product searches are running now, visit http://www.EdisonNation.com.

Thus, the marketing industry was born – specifically the Internet marketing industry. Countless companies and individuals exist to help small businesses succeed in the art of capturing attention amidst ostensibly unending competition.

While spending money on such effective services as ReputationManagers.com and SEO consultants is sure to result in improved marketing for your brand, don’t make the mistake of thinking you must seek outside help. The dirty little secret about Internet marketing is that most of it can be taken care of by small businesses themselves, especially in the beginning.

Here are six key components of Internet marketing than startups should have no problem tackling on their own:

Establishing a strong social media presence: Chances are you have a Facebook profile, and maybe you Tweet as well. It doesn’t get more complicated when using these social media services for your small business. Paying someone else to manage your free social media profiles is unnecessary considering the amount of information online that focuses on ways small businesses can use such services.

Safeguarding an online reputation: Protecting your image on the Internet sounds like quite the undertaking, but it oftentimes requires nothing more than staying updated on your social media profiles and securing relevant domains. If negative information related to your brand makes it to the top of search results, there isn’t anything a third-party firm can do that you can’t do yourself. Such services are merely a matter of convenience.

Going mobile: By the middle of this decade, it’s projected that mobile web traffic will quadruple from where it was in 2010. Your small business website and pertinent online profiles must be mobile-friendly, but it isn’t as hard as it sounds. Simply use a mobile browser emulator to see what your site looks like to specific mobile users. Only seek assistance if you notice any problems with navigation, or if mobile searches do not count you among the results.

Improving SEO: If you’ve taken the proper steps to protect your online reputation, establish a social media presence, and become visible to mobile users, then you’ve already done quite enough to improve your search engine optimization. But simply always be mindful of the keywords used most in searches and make an effort to integrate them into your website to add more oomph to your search rankings.

Spreading real world awareness: Don’t neglect the power of promotional items, QR codes, and other modern marketing elements that exist in reality. Distributing flash drives with your company logo on them throughout a college campus or other area with a high number of potential consumers is something you can do yourself, once you pay for the products to be made of course.

Networking with other businesses: In today’s world, it’s almost impossible to go at consumers alone on a small scale, and thus many small businesses have opted to join forces via various networks over the years. Whether it’s through promotions or advertisement, rubbing elbows with more established entities with customers you may be able to serve is a great way to take huge marketing strides when starting a small business.

Small business start-ups cannot afford to ignore the importance of marketing in the Internet age, but that doesn’t mean they have to throw precious funds away paying someone else to tackle such critical tasks. There’s plenty in the realm of marketing that small businesses can do themselves, especially when it comes to their web presence. Give it a go on your own before committing to the costlier albeit just-as-effective strategies of someone else.

Musicians: Forget the 90s and forget the traditional view that a band or musician must sign with a record label in order to release music. Release your own tracks through iTunes and promote it through social media while marketing into niche Internet radio communities like Last.fm and Pandora. If you’re a deejay, check out the multitude of DJ social networking communities and create a webpage for yourself.

Artists and craftmakers: You no longer need a physical location in some expensive downtown loft in order to promote your gallery. Put your work on Deviant Art or Etsy.com, where you can have your own online shop and do your own marketing. While traditional art collectors may still prefer only to buy their art in person, a new generation of arts and crafts enthusiasts is growing up online, where storage is much cheaper.

Writers: Don’t wait for a publishing house to come to their sense because you may be waiting forever. Self-publish your work with services like Lulu and Blurb and then get your work listed on Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Kobo Books and other e-book stores.

Innovators and Inventors: You don’t need to wait until you meet a billionaire investor lounging around in a bar, bored with his/her life. Raise your own money with the incredible online fundraising (popularly known as crowdfunding) tools like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Prosper, RocketHub and others.

The message here is that in the Age of the Entrepreneur anyone and everyone has the ability to use their talents to create a unique self-propelled business model, without the need of an intermediary agent or company. Whether you’re an artist, an inventor, a musician, or a craftmaker you have the ability to forge your own career path by taking advantage of online tools like social media, crowdfunding, e-commerce, and Internet radio.

Lawmakers are notorious for taking long vacations which go against the hardworking and dedicated work ethos of the American entrepreneurial class. While our elected representatives can afford long holidays in exotic locations, the people actually creating jobs are stuck managing employees and meeting the needs of clients going into the new year. It doesn’t matter if you run a search engine marketing agency or a small restaurant chain, not taking time off will cause you harm in the long run.

The common philosophy amongst small business owners is that if you are doing what you love, you will never have to work a day in your life. While that holds true to some extent, the fact is that starting a business and maintaining it will take a concerted amount of energy and effort out of anyone. If you are constantly working and worrying about only one thing, you will eventually suffer burnout and crash.

If you have set up your business at a strong point, consider taking time off in the summer or around late December. If you are feeling unsure about the strength of your company, this will give you a little bit of breathing room. Other, more established executives and owners will also be taking their vacations around these periods which will make you look sensible instead of weak.

According to JJ Ramberg, host of MSNBC’s Your Business, taking time off is important not just for yourself, but for the strength of your company. Letting your employees handle things on their own will expose how steady your internal infrastructure is and will let you know how you can improve on any weaknesses’ within the company. It will also give a boost of confidence to those you choose to leave in charge in your absence.

When you do eventually manage to sneak away for a vacation, make sure you spend it doing something unconventional. Too often people just jet down to the Gulf of Mexico and get drunk on the beach for a couple of weeks. Instead of doing this, try visiting your dream locale. A trip to Japan, Ireland, or Turkey could rejuvenate your business senses and leave you more prepared to take on challenges.

Instead of succumbing to constant stress and the demands of work every day, make sure you are actually getting a chance to enjoy your small business success. Just make sure to leave your electronic devices at home so you don’t get sucked into telecommuting to the office instead of making the most of your vacation.

Crowd-source for seed money - Crowd-sourcing sites for independent funding are huge in the social media world right now. If your business is launched but you’re still looking for seed money, it might be worth pitching a campaign on IndieGoGo, Kickstarter or any of the numerous options out there.

Have scalable products - Don’t just go for cheaper or premium, offer different versions of your products for a wide variety of financial conditions. A lot of times clients may want your product or service but the price scares them away. Lure them back in with deals, demo offers, and promotions.

Bold experimental marketing - Social media’s not enough, you have to get really innovative in today’s business landscape, especially when you don’t have the money for traditional advertising on television. Create a QR code to try and drive traffic to your website, mail individualized postcards, reach out to the local community.

Shorter ads and more of them - If you do have a budget for advertising, go with the cheaper print ads and make several small ones. Having a single full page ad in the local newspaper will not be as effective as multiple small ads in well placed markets.

Cater to your existing customers - Obviously it’s good to bring in new customers but in the process you want to make sure you make your existing customers feel special. This will accomplish two things: it will retain them and it will help you to deputize them as mobile advertisements. Create incentives for them to spread the word about your business. Nothing beats old-fashioned word of mouth marketing.

Network with other business for dual promotions - You know the old platitude: if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. If your competitor just can’t be outpaced, play the smaller dog and mine them for trade secrets while riding their coattails.

Manage your reputation - Check Google and see how search engines are depicting you. If you are the subject of some scandalous blogs, you need to fight back. Don’t let a bad reputation precede you, especially if it’s inaccurate!

These tips are not universal truths, but if approached creatively and passionately the issues they inform should dramatically improve your sales figures. A small business needs to think outside the box. Master these strategies and watch your company grow.

There’s no need to choose between being a parent and running your dream business. Female entrepreneurs have been phenomenally successful in the recent past, with more than 8 million women-owned businesses in the United States.

This trend doesn’t seem to be a blip on the radar; in fact, women entrepreneurs are poised for continued growth over the next few years. Women entrepreneurs in the United States will create more than 5 million new jobs by 2018, which is more than half of the new jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects to be created over that time, according to the Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.

When women do make the leap to start their own businesses, research shows that they may be more successful than their male counterparts. The Institute also found that female small business owners may succeed because they are more engaged in strategic facets of their business, more committed to creating opportunities for others, and more customer-focused than their male counterparts.

Becoming a mompreneur is exciting, but your dream business won’t start itself. BizFilings, an online incorporation provider, offers the following business tips for mompreneurs, both aspiring and current.

Start a business that lets you follow your passion. If you plan a business around a hobby or something you enjoy, work can be fun, and you may not mind putting in the extra hours it will take to make your endeavor successful. BizFilings has helped over a million entrepreneurs start a business, and has incorporated businesses large and small, from fabric stores to Facebook. Starting your business gives you the freedom to choose your dream job or something that lets you spend more time with your family.

This past year saw continued growth from “digital moms,” or women bloggers, turning their blogs into businesses. If you have a blog, you can draw revenue from companies who agree to advertise or promote their products or services on your blog, turning something you love into a successful business model.

If you have a soft spot for our four-legged friends, consider capitalizing on the millions people spend each year on their pets. Start a pet care business for busy pet owners who don’t get a break in the day to take Fido for a walk. If you’d rather take your pooch to work, opening your own pet store (or pet bakery, a rising trend) can give you that flexibility.

Starting your own bakery or restaurant may seem daunting – but a food truck presents a unique opportunity to break into the food industry. Food trucks are popping up in cities nationwide, with Americans embracing the trend of mobile eating. Serving everything from crepes to cupcakes and sushi to sandwiches, this trend may be perfect for food-fueled entrepreneurs.

Create a business plan that works for you. This can be one of the most important first steps to starting a small business. Business plans aren’t tailor-made – everyone considers different things to be important. Use the Small Business Administration to help you write yours by visiting your local chapter or by using the resources available on http://www.sba.gov.

Consider incorporation to protect your family. When you’re starting up a business, you may have to rely on your family’s savings to get the business off the ground. Incorporating your company can protect your family’s assets and savings by providing a layer of liability between your business and your savings. If anything goes wrong, your family’s home, vehicles and even your child’s college fund could be at stake – but not if you’ve incorporated.

Incorporation can also grant you a better financial foundation when getting your business off the ground. Women are more prone than men to finance their business on credit cards – a risky gamble that often backfires with bad credit and steep interest charges. Getting a loan from a bank is a much savvier business decision, and incorporating your business can be a crucial factor in showing the bank that you take your business seriously.

“If you have a dream business, we’ll incorporate it – it’s that simple,” says Karen Kobelski, mother of two and a member of the leadership team at BizFilings. “And as a supporter of mompreneurs, we help our customers pick the business structure that’s right for them and their family.”

Becoming a mompreneur can have many benefits other than spending more time with your kids. Working from home can come with its own set of tax breaks, as long as your designated home office meets certain specifications. The government also provides specific programs to help women entrepreneurs, including grants and loans as well as specific contract work not available to other entrepreneurs. To find out more about government assistance for entrepreneurs, visit the SBA’s website, http://www.sba.gov.

Ries’ forthcoming book, THE LEAN STARTUP, is anticipated to be a bestseller and is already among Amazon’s top 100 in the management category months before its release.

Meanwhile, ultra-successful companies like Groupon and Dropbox are putting Ries’ ideas to work to remarkable effect, and the likes of Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus, and Brad Smith, CEO of Intuit, joined Ries as keynote speakers at Lean Startup’s 2nd Annual Startup Lessons Learned Conference on May 23rd in San Francisco.

But for Ries, who co-founded IMVU, a social entertainment company with 40 million users and $3 million in monthly revenue, the real barometer of Lean Startup’s success are the 100,000-plus people who have created their own “Lean Startup Meetups” in cities around the world. At the Meetups, entrepreneurs gather to apply Ries’ approach to their own business projects, posting videos, projects, and results on Ries’ http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/.

“Startups are the lifeblood of the American economy,” says Ries, “In the past two decades, they have accounted for nearly all the net job growth in our country.”

It’s a surprising realization: American job growth is no longer driven by steelworks and car plants, as it once was, but by innovation and entrepreneurship. Today’s biggest job-driving companies – Google, Yahoo, Intel, eBay – were born as startups. As America’s economy continues to shift, jobs and growth will depend on startups to an even greater extent.

This shift has put the spot light on Reis who has caught the attention of President Obama who asked the U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra to specifically ask Ries to advise on ways the government can successfully create entrepreneurship initiatives.

What this also means to Ries is that revitalizing the U.S. economy is really about maximizing every American startup’s chances for success. Lean Startup is the first business movement to do exactly this, and it’s doing it with a surprising degree of success – even for a startup.

But how can an aspiring entrepreneur go about starting a business when the market seems against them? How can someone with big plans and new ideas ensure success in a dramatically different economic atmosphere? There are two things that will always be essential in getting a new business off the ground; a water-tight business plan and capital.

From Drawing Board to Blackboard
Those possessed by the entrepreneurial spirit and raring to get their business up and running sometimes find it difficult to translate great ideas into a well-thought-out business plan. For those, a trip back to the classroom may be necessary. Many entrepreneurs consider enrolling in an MBA program in order to fine-tune business practices and methods before a real-world launch.

“I get to see people who are very talented walking in the door a little lost — perhaps lacking some skills, habits or practices — become great business people,” says Phil Siegel, a successful serial entrepreneur and teacher at the Acton School of Business.

While traditional MBA programs have faced criticism for churning out risk-inclined financial speculators and investment bankers that led to the near-demise of Wall Street, other MBA curriculums with a focus on sound business practices and principled entrepreneurship are seeing a spike in interest.

“An MBA isn’t just for someone looking to land a job on Wall Street anymore,” says Siegel. “There are a few great schools offering an education that teaches how to really start and run a business from the ground up.” A handful of respected schools focus on the skills necessary to build and operate a business by offering MBA programs with entrepreneurship-specific tracks. Acton, where Siegel teaches, furthers the trend with their intensive one-year MBA in Entrepreneurship, an entire program focused on developing principled entrepreneurs and teaching them the tools, skills and judgment they need to run their own businesses.

Finding an Investor
For those who have the entrepreneurial enthusiasm, the know-how, and the structure in place to start building a business, but don’t yet have the funds to do so, the next step is finding an investor. Siegel says not to get discouraged even though investors may seem more tight-fisted given the economic downturn. “If you’re looking for money for a new venture, there are plenty of investors out there,” says Siegel. “The current economy hasn’t really affected the enthusiasm for great ideas.”

However, he cautions that all the normal “do’s and don’ts” of seeking funding are magnified in this kind of environment. Siegel urges entrepreneurs to:

Have a plan. “Come up with a business plan that is clear, concise, internally consistent and reasonable for the market opportunity.”

Know your customer. “Understand your customer and know why they would buy your product or service instead of what they buy today. Do market research, and have customer ‘pilots,’ if necessary, to prove that your product has value.”

Seek out experts. “Bring experts to your aid; they can help increase your credibility. In good times, people tend to believe your story, but in bad times, they’re more skeptical.

Prepare for profits. “Having done your business planning and preparation, ask yourself how you’re going to spend the money you are seeking. Who do you want to invest in your venture? What milestones are you going to reach in this round of investment capital? What will you need in terms of financing after you achieve your initial goals to get cash flows to break even?”

There will be many stops along the path to any entrepreneur’s first ribbon-cutting. Whether an MBA, an investor, both or neither are in their future, the advice given here should help any startup weather the economic storm.

“People are still willing to write checks,” concludes Siegel, “they’re just a little bit more careful, and a lot more cranky.”

For more information on the Acton School of Business’ one-year MBA in Entrepreneurship program, please visit http://www.actonmba.org.