Sarah Fong of SuiteCity adores her mentor!

When I started my business, I had a solid business plan in hand, enough industry experience to be called an “expert” in the field and had received $50K in funding from Futurpreneur Canada’s Spin Master Innovation program to launch my business. But, I had no idea how to run a business. Ironic, right? However, executing on a business plan is very different from coming up with the ideas. I quickly realized that being the sole owner of my business meant that I had also signed up to be the head of marketing, legal, finance, technology and sales, just to name a few. Not having any experience in these areas, I had so many questions, yet no one to ask them to. How do I structure my pricing? What is a brand strategy vs. a marketing strategy? Where do I find a good lawyer?

Fortunately, Futurpreneur Canada’s mentoring program helped put me in touch with someone who could answer my questions. My mentor, Andrew Stodart is a consultant who builds brands and businesses and has over 25 years of experience. Andrew’s knowledge and experience is incredibly valuable as he has “been there and done that”, many times over. We meet every 2 weeks and discuss my progress in different areas of the business where I could use his help. Whether it is in relationship building or creating my revenue goals and plans, Andrew helps me strategize on how to execute each piece. There’s never a shortage of items to discuss and I know that my time with Andrew will one of the most productive meetings that I’ll have.

Having a mentor like Andrew is like an angel sent to me from the business heavens! Without his help, I wouldn’t be nearly as far along as I am today. During National Volunteer Week, I want to send a big “Thank You” to Andrew – for keeping me focussed and motivated to keep chugging along on the entrepreneurial rollercoaster.