Mentors sought for new graduates

MOSES LAKE — With 50 percent of new businesses known to fail, mentors are being sought for upcoming graduates of The Prosperity Center’s “Starting Your Own Business” workshop.

People wanting to become mentors can contact Jasmyne DeBeaumont, The Prosperity Center’s outreach coordinator, at 509-765-9206, ext. 249, or via e-mail, jfarley@nccac.net.

A meeting for the mentors will be held at a later date, she said.

The mentoring program started in April with an earlier class and almost 35 of the graduates wanted a mentor, she said.

“To have someone who’s been there, done that, just to ask questions, is important,”  DeBeaumont said.

Current students wanting mentors must attend a Sept. 17 workshop.

The workshop is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., in Central Basin WorkSource, Room 108, at 309 E. Fifth Ave., Moses Lake.

The upcoming graduates represent a variety of business ideas, including different food vendors, an event planning business, restaurants, golf instruction, catering, computer repair, motor sports, clothing, retail, environmental safety, photography, dance studios, salons and engineering.

But one doesn’t have to share the same business background to be a mentor, said Michael Buchanan, who served as a chairman of the first mentor meeting earlier this year.

He is also the executive director of the Big Bend Economic Development Council.

He previously served as a mentor, but the people he was matched with decided to put their business plans on hold.

Buchanan explained before that, he mentored people for 15 years 

He explained people don’t have to own a business to be a mentor.

Mentors are generally older than the people they’re mentoring and have more experience, he explained.

New business owners can ask crucial questions of their mentors regarding taxes and insurance that businesses must pay to avoid being shut down.

“I’ve seen businesses fail because they stop (paying),” he noted.

In fact, 50 percent of businesses will fail, Buchanan said.

In the past, he’s “loved” being a mentor, he said.

“It is exciting to watch someone put their ideas into practice,” Buchanan noted.

It’s also “heart wrenching” to see people not take advice, do the proper research or get into trouble, he said.

Glen Byers, The Prosperity Center’s development coordinator, said he’s been in a mentoring relationship for about three or four months.

The woman he is mentoring is running a clothing and accessories business.

Their relationship involves exchanging e-mails and meeting for coffee.

She gives Byers a status report about her business and is prepared to go over questions or particular issues, he explained.

“I feel like the mentor role is to be there as an advisor and provide objective feedback,” he said.

It’s important because new business owners are surrounded by supportive family and friends who don’t always provide objectivity.