Things don’t always go “just right.” In fact, when starting a business it’s often trial under fire and learning from experience. Heck, even when you’re established there’s some of this.
I came up with an idea for a new “consulting program.” The words spurted out of my mouth in front of a prospective client, he loved what I said and I therefore assumed, based on one bit of feedback, that I had the next greatest thing. I put hours and hours into the marketing materials (the work itself wasn’t anything new).
It went nowhere. The prospect I mentioned it to hired me for two small projects and that was it. The surefire idea turned out to be nothing more than another arrow in my quiver.
This is going to happen to you and when it does it’s great to have someone there to offer empathy and encouragement. That’s what a mentor does, because they’ve been there, done that. They’ve tried things and succeeded. They’ve tried things and failed. The key point is that they tried things. So they’ll know how to keep you on the right track and, more importantly, keep you off the wrong track. Or, help you learn from their and other’s mistakes.