January is National Mentoring Month, a time to benefit from the expertise of an experienced business coach, adviser, or role model. Do you have a mentor that is helping you achieve success for your business?
Some mentors are there for the long haul, others step in to help you achieve a discreet goal along the way. According to an article by the SBA, a mentor can guide you through business stages you haven’t faced before and give you a different perspective on an obstacle. They can also help you expand your network, help you identify and leverage available tools and resources, and more.
If you’d like to find a mentor, there are a number of ways to do that in the Sacramento region. I’ve listed my favorites below.
Where to Find a Mentor
Mentor Sacramento is a free online business mentoring platform that connects early stage startup founders and small business owners to volunteer business mentors. An innovative and inclusive partnership between the City of Sacramento and MicroMentor, the project also involves community organizations that serve the Sacramento small business ecosystem, like StartupSac and the Carlsen Center. Sign up/Learn More here.
The Sacramento Valley Small Business Development Center (SBDC) offers free one-on-one business advising. Whether you need help turning your idea into a business, assistance in getting funded, creating a marketing strategy, or any aspect of starting, managing and growing a small business, they have advisors who can help! You can apply for an advisor or just learn more here.
SCORE Capital Corridor’s services are also free. As highly successful and experienced business professionals and entrepreneurs, SCORE mentors deliver valuable, timely, and practical advice. Whether you are a startup or an existing business, their mentors will help you and your business open new markets, reach new customers, and achieve new goals. Request a mentor or learn more here.
The Sacramento Women’s Business Center provides free counseling and training with a focus on women who want to start, grow, and expand their small business. In addition to matching you up with a counselor, they also have a self-paced program, Dreambuilder, that covers all the core issues that you must consider when starting a business. Topics include planning, marketing, pricing, management, accounting, managing risk, finding funding, setting goals, and many more. Find a counselor or learn more about the Sacramento WBC here
Startup Happenings
There’s a lot going on this week for entrepreneurs in our region! I’ve highlighted some of the Best Bets below and be sure to check out this week’s Startup Digest for a full listing (plus you can sign up to get the digest weekly in your inbox while you’re there!).
This Week’s Best Bets
Startup Happy Hour with Grin Cofounder and CEO Brandon Brown, Tue Jan 25, 5 PM. Meet Grin CEO Brandon Brown. Brandon launched Grin, an influencer marketing management company, in 2017 and has built an incredible team, now exceeding 300, on a mission to reinvent the way brands reach consumers through influencer marketing. In the last 13 months Grin has closed a $110 million funding round, seen ~200% ARR growth, 320% headcount growth, hit $1B valuation, and more. Online
Entrepreneurship Toolkit Series, Weds at 6 PM, 1/26-2/23. The Carlsen Center’s 5-part series guides participants through hands-on activities to build an understanding of proven startup tools and apply them to their own businesses. Whether you’re a budding entrepreneur, or an established business owner wanting to brush up on your skills, the Toolkit Series is for you. Online
Startup Shop Talk with Dan & JDM, Fri Jan 28 at 11 AM. Startup Shop Talk is a weekly, interactive live YouTube show entirely about startups & innovation. This week’s topic is How to create a winning business model for your startup. Online
Plan Ahead
Developing an Idea into a Business, Wed Feb 2, 11 AM. If you’ve been thinking about starting a business, this workshop will help you figure out where to start. You’ll begin to work through your ideas to see what may be possible and which steps to take first. Online
How to Build A Product Business, Wed Feb 2, 2 PM. Making and selling a product yourself means setting up manufacturing, marketing, shipping and business systems to ensure its success! This course will save you time and energy in places where Google just won’t cut it! Online
Have you joined the StartupSac Community Facebook Group yet? Startup founders and those who support the growth of our startup community connect and exchange ideas in this private moderated group.
