Are There Really Mentors Out There?

[Shelly F.]

I am new to REI and I wonder if I am too "naive"...? Despite my inexperience in REI I bring a ton of skills and sales ability to the table, and of course I'm willing to dig in, help out, and LEARN. My question is, am I being too foolish to think that I can find a mentor in my area who: 1) won't charge me for being of service to them and allowing me to learn as we go; 2) would have any reason to mentor me; or 3) would have no ulterior motives in mentoring me other than allowing me to help them out as I learn from their experience?

I am a self-starter and aggressive go-getter but I realize I need to partner with someone experienced as I take my first baby steps....do mentors really exist????

[Joe Bertolino]

Almost everyone has their personal radio dialed into channel WIIFM... What's in it for me? What can you do for them? Free labor is good for some but for most investors and business owners there is a significant time and energy commitment to train somebody and to monitor their activity to make sure things were done correctly. It becomes more work.

So then you find a real go getter, spend time and energy training them... and just when they are useful they split off to do their own thing using your business model in your market. You have just spent a lot of time training your newest competitor. Why would anybody put themselves in that position?

I think there are a lot of kind and helpful people that will give you pointers and let you bounce ideas off of them... but expecting a stranger who is successful (i.e. Their time is valuable) to mentor you or allow you to apprentice under them is a lot to ask unless you really have something to offer. That something has to be equal to the time they are investing in you. That means you need to provide value and bring them deals where they actually make money too. They might even make more money than you on "your deal" because they can execute. This isn't ripping you off, this is you paying your tuition to be educated.

I have had what I consider to be great mentors over my career in my main business (commercial insurance) and RE Investing but I never expected to get something for nothing (or very little).