A mentor is an experienced and trusted adviser who gives help and advice. The right business mentor can help you grow your business, act as a sounding board for your ideas, and provide valuable feedback and sound business advice.

It can be a challenge to find the right business mentor for you. If you’re bootstrapping your business, the cost of a mentor or coach may not fit in your current budget. Don’t despair. There are quality resources available to business owners. 

What are some free or low-cost resources for finding a business mentor? 

Friends and family are excellent resources for helping you find someone you can trust and who will care enough to help you for free. Also, check out local meetups and networking groups. Your local community college’s small business center and local chamber of commerce are great options for networking and seeking out business mentors. Other free or low-cost mentoring resources include SCORE Mentors and your local Small Business Development Center.

Below are additional resources focused on veterans and women business owners.

Veteran Institute for Procurement

The National Center for Veteran Institute for Procurement (VIP) is a veteran entrepreneurship program that specifically addresses federal procurement. They work with Service-Disabled Veteran-owned Small Businesses (SDVOSB) and Veteran-Owned Small Businesses (VOSB). VIP offers a platform with three training programs to assist veterans. VIP GROW is its core curriculum, which helps companies in developing strategies to expand and operate within the federal marketplace. The VIP START program is for companies wanting to enter the federal market and become procurement ready. The VIP INTERNATIONAL program is for companies that want to enter or expand their federal and commercial contracting opportunities overseas.

ATHENA International

The ATHENAPowerLink Program is a national mentoring program that connects selected women business owners with a skilled advisory panel.

Association of Women’s Business Centers

The Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) works to secure economic justice and entrepreneurial opportunities for women by supporting and sustaining a national network of over 100 Women’s Business Centers (WBC). WBCs help women succeed in business by providing training, mentoring, business development and financing opportunities to over 140,000 women entrepreneurs each year in every state in the union.

Do one thing: Check out the low-cost or free resources listed above and get to work finding the best business mentor for you.

Thanks for reading.