How to Find a Mentor? How to Create a Successful Business? Interview with Martyna Bizdra

I have been interviewed by Shane McCormick from BuyHerePayHereCarlots. The questions brought great results. Read them and try giving your own answers, to find your unique solutions…

• How to manage your own finances?
• How to embrace success after a long period of unemployment?
• What are the predictions for women entrepreneurship?

Enjoy the interview

Question Shane: Since the recession hit, what are some tips you offer women (young and old) on how to help manage their finances? What are some things you recommend they do? Also, what are some things you recommend they shouldn’t do?

Answer Martyna: 1. Learn financial vocabulary- read, listen to for example Robert Kiyosaki, Keith Cunningham, Richard Branson, and develop your financial imagination. You absolutely NEED to fully and honestly face the current situation – prepare your financial statement, showing the income and expenses plus the columns for the assets and liabilities.

2. Write down the amount of money you need per month, based on your expenses, once you have it done, it is much easier to make this money when you know the exact figure.

3. Don’t borrow money (we are talking here about those who are just starting up), it might slow you down, and undermine your self-esteem, so:

4. Work on your self-esteem( affirmations, visualizations, writing goals, taking actions)

5. Create a master-mind group- meet other women or just people who are also searching for the solutions to their problems. Search for the ideas!  Create groups, build first small businesses based on the mutual ideas, learn to work together and share different experiences – It is priceless. They need to realize that most of the successful businesses created by humans are the results of well-understood needs of other people and a good product or products prepared to answer those needs. So:

6. Research the market or your neighborhood and find what people need, and give it to them. (Onassis- the great Greek-American billionaire first started by selling Greek cigarettes in Argentina, cigarettes were already gaining popularity, he just helped people satisfy their needs. What is the need you can fulfill?)

7. Invest your money- first educate yourself (self-esteem, human relations etc) then invest in your business, so you can save more time and build your business.

Q: If a women has been unemployed for over a year and is just getting back into the work place, what advice would you give that person?

A: 1. First and the most essential- be sure what you want to achieve and the kind of job you want. Do you want to work for yourself- to be an entrepreneur, or do you want to become an employee? What is the salary you need? Which sector interests you? Do you like working with people, or not?

2. Research the market, find what people need. Many people fail, because they just don’t know what type of job they want.

Q: For a women that just went through a difficult divorce, has a child and is currently living at home, and is currently unemployed, what would you say to these women who went through such a dramatic experience? How would you lift this person up?

A: If you experience difficulties, even serious troubles you have a choice between going back which might result in even greater problems or…facing the risks, as Kiyosaki says it: “becoming stronger”.

I do not believe in lifting people up. It does not help the person, only humiliates her/him.

But there are questions that may be asked…

Where do you see yourself in 5-years time? …

Honestly write it down- both the current situation and the desired one. Travel in time, think of the moment from the past, when you felt really strong, perhaps incredibly creative, you solved a major problem and were proud of yourself- realize that it is still you, perhaps a bit older, but much more experienced and thus ready to solve things with even greater depth!  Your mind has not lost its creative genius-like abilities. And troubles are often blessings covered in mud. They show you that something needs to be changed, that there is a far better life for you– definitely different from the troubled one, but decisions need to be made and action taken.

What makes you happy? …How to get it? – write it down. John Carlton suggests creating two lists. One for the things you like and the other one for those you don’t like. And do the things you like.

Next…What kind of life do you imagine for your child? What do you need, to be happy and to give your baby the childhood it needs to grow to become a fully independent and happy adult? The number one influencing factor for people/children to grow is love. Start from here.

If there is anybody that will help you change …it is going to be yourself, only. Once you realize it, life will never be the same.

Q: How should a woman who wants to start a business seek a mentor that will help her in the industry?

A: Before a woman seeks a mentor, she should be able to stand on her own feet. What I mean by this is the ability to know what she wants to do, to earn money, to show her ideas in a way that will interest others. (Most of the billionaires didn’t borrow money when they were just starting out; borrowing came later when they knew how to make money and to multiply it). The ability to find a mentor is based on your ability to give back something valuable to him/her. It might be in a form of your idea, business joint-venture, your contacts, your willingness to realize in practise the idea for your company, which is usually based on your ability to visualize and plan long-term.

So my suggestion to you is: when you have an idea for a business, do the research, prepare well, and start looking at the most influential, experienced, virtuous people in the industry you want to see your business in. Find a person that shares your values, or most preferably- who has even higher moral standards and high ability to deliver great results. Know and value what you offer so to interest the potential mentor. Next you may also want to find mutual friends, build connections through seminars, and contact the person.

Find what the mentor needs, and give it to him/her.

Q: For a woman that’s just starting her business, what leadership roles should she exude to be a successful business woman?

A: 1. Most essential is the independence of thought, this way, she will always be able keep her pride which is essential in business. Independence of thought gives you your own ideas, personal passion, that is the starting point of creating a successful brand, it is a timeless key to success. Once you have that result of your own creative mind, you can indefinitely better yourself, without relying on other people. This situation simplifies the human interactions, and human relations…are the foundation for the ever expansive growth of business.

2. Master your Concentration.

3. Excellence in Human Relations- she needs to be a people-person. Warren Buffett, Aristotle Onassis, Rockefeller, took courses on Public Speaking, to improve their communication skills, and contributed many of their later successes to this investment of time and attention.

4. The ability to think “globally” and plan long-term. Our Earth is entering a totally new era- we are fully aware of the complexity of not only the ecosystem, but also human community as a whole. Actions in one place influence the whole system. Business of the future will prosper only with the respect for global stability.

5. ‘Never Give Up’ attitude, the ability to see the opportunities in the mistakes.

Q: Over the years there’s been a lot of talk about online marketing and how to make money by selling goods online or via affiliate products. Do you see this industry beneficial to aspiring women entrepreneurs because the start up costs are often low?

A: Well, the start up costs might be low, but it is not always true. Internet marketing is no different than any other form of marketing. To be successful you just need a few tasks: salesmanship, a bit of knowledge- how to write a good advertisement, how to outsource, how to promote a product.

Internet marketing can definitely help, as it helps you reach a far greater audience, build your brand, and make it global much faster, seek business partners in distant corners of the globe, exchange the ideas faster, mastermind, find what the other corners of the globe need, and the least but not last…thanks to the Internet we can plan long-term, the consequences of our actions are more visible with the much more holistic picture etc. But Internet –related activity require excellent time management skills.

My suggestion is- have a plan, know what you want to do before you enter the market.

Q: Where do you see women entrepreneurship 10-20 years down the road?

A: The future will bring many changes. Created by the Eco-system, rising global temperatures, growing intelligence and strength of the communities of Africa, Asia, and South America. If we want to survive on this bountiful Earth, we need to create one global community, which works together like water in the ocean. The future will bring responsibility, and that is also why Women will play as important role as Men will. Women can create bonds between people, build communities, this is our great strength.

Right now, we see the rise of social media- media based mainly on human relations, friendships. The strength of respected businesses is built upon their ability to care for their people and their customers…and here comes the future role for women.

How you create your happy family is also the way to create a happy World and Successful Business.

Shane owns   http://www.buyherepayherecarlots.net