The Joy of Giving Back: Mentoring and Leaving a Legacy in Your Industry

One of my favorite types of clients to work with are local business owners who have been doing their "thing" for years. 

Usually, at least a decade or more, but I've worked with some clients who have been running their local business for 30 or 40 years!

This type of client's knowledge and experience are incredibly valuable, and they present an exciting opportunity to help others by sharing them.

Help Who?

Often, I help this type of client start coaching others in their industry. A swim school owner starts coaching other swim school owners, a music teacher starts coaching other music teachers, etc. I rarely have to overthink the "who" in this equation. If you've been in business or your field of expertise for a long time, there's a natural opportunity to mentor others in your industry, especially those with less experience. 

This is exactly what I did nine years ago, as a 15-year veteran dance studio owner, when I started sharing my best practices with other studio owners. It's a natural evolution to move from the business practitioner into a mentorship role at a certain point in your career, especially if it's been successful!

Help How?

Sometimes, I help clients package their knowledge into digital products like ebooks, how-to manuals, or courses they can share with others in their industry. 

For example, a swim school owner might create a course about "25 Strategies To Maximize Your Profits" or "15 Strategies For Staff Success".

In these examples, other swim school owners would value the information to boost profits or streamline their staff training. 

Sometimes, however, the simplest way for a local business owner to start a second business, sharing their experience and knowledge, is through private consultation or coaching. 

With this type of offer, you don't need to go through the hassle of creating any products!

Your "product" is to talk with clients on the phone (or Zoom) and help them overcome their problems and achieve their goals. 

You are the product. You're simply allowing others to tap into your knowledge and experience to support them on their journey. 

There is no one better for the role of coach or mentor than someone who has been "in the trenches" for the past 10 or 15 (or 30-40!!) years!

You have likely seen it all at this point in your career—the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

And yet, here you are, still standing, and you can pass on that wisdom to others.

One of the common things I hear from clients who want to start mentoring others in their industry is, "If I could only help people avoid [fill-in-the-blank] mistakes, I'd feel so fulfilled!"

I know from experience that a strange thing happens when you start mentoring others. 

The greatest pain, embarrassments, and mistakes from the past become your greatest gifts to pass on to others, and you no longer look upon them with shame or regret. 

Instead, the struggle suddenly takes on new meaning as you can help and guide others not despite the pain, struggle, and mistakes but because of them. The new perspective you gain on your journey is remarkable as you take on the mentor role in someone else's life. 

Of course, not all veteran business owners want to coach or mentor others. 

In my experience, it's a calling from within to mentor others. 

Or rather, sometimes, after working with a client, I discover that they have been mentoring others for free, and now I'm just helping them make it "official" so they can get paid for it!

If you've even been asked to go to coffee so someone can "pick your brain," I'm looking at you!

In all seriousness, though, the word that pops up in early conversations with this type of client is "legacy." 

For them, the past 15-20 (or 30-40!!) years have been valuable, but mentoring others would help them feel like they were creating a lasting legacy by passing on their knowledge to others who will benefit in some way.

Other Benefits of Coaching or Mentoring Others:

Beyond the priceless benefits of personal fulfillment and the sense of legacy that mentoring others can create, there are also practical benefits. 

• Mentoring others can be done remotely, providing location freedom.
• Mentoring others can be flexible. You can set your schedule based on what works for you. Many coaches choose to work with clients Tuesday through Thursday, creating a four-day weekend every week!
• Mentoring others can create a lucrative income stream in addition to your current business or post-retirement while working very part-time. It's not uncommon to charge anywhere from $250 to $1,000+ per month for each client. 
• You don't need many clients to create a successful and fulfilling coaching or consulting practice, many coaches can fulfill their goals working with just a small handful of private clients each year. 

In conclusion, please know that if you have been in business (or your profession) for many years, your experience and knowledge are valuable to others, and the opportunity it presents can also be incredibly valuable to you if you know how to leverage it correctly. 

After all, as Winston Churchill said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

If expanding into coaching or mentoring others speaks to you, I invite any questions you might have about. Feel free to comment below or email me directly at megan@shineonlinenetwork.com.