Ofentse Walls logg

My decision to allow Herbert Felix mentor program to be part of my business career is by choice. I cannot say the decision went without having a dispute with myself over the detour I was about to take after all the plotting to stay self-made. I thought to myself that the idea of having a mentor defeats the purpose of wanting to be self-made.

Still I fail to find the meaning in being self-made because businesses we run are built around societies and these societies indirectly shape our businesses. There has been a lot to learn, and the best that came out of working with an experienced mentor is the access to a network that I would have failed build alone in short span of time. No matter how exhausting the experience was, the door to door trips looking for opportunity were the most exciting because there was always something new to learn about how people conducted business.

Unfortunately mentors can never be fully on-board with the apprentice’s daily company proceedings and there are things that don’t come naturally with running a business so I found myself struggling. During the period of my business start-up, I realized that I lacked business administration skills thus leading to my enrolment to an entrepreneurship education at Lund University.

There were some expectations from me about having a mentor, which was maybe to receive the ultimate business script from Lars-Erik. He would rather keep it to himself and he told me that entrepreneurship could not be learnt from scripts. It could be true, because I have come to realize that entrepreneurship is a talent and if not then it is habit that has only a few can master. I lack the talent, but I am trying to sharpen the habit. Very costly habit though, one needs to be careful not to sacrifice the life they had before the business venture. Lars-Erik told me to find balance and that still stays a myth to me because start-ups are demanding.

My goal with accepting a mentor was to learn Swedish business culture, but then the irony of it is that there is also a cultural difference between myself and my Swedish mentor:). Great mentor though…