‘Hello Jo, would you like to mentor me?’: How to ask for help as a business owner

"Nobody’s equipped to do this role by themselves. You have to lean on others."

As the boss, it's your job to make decisions – but who do you turn to when you don't have all the answers? Asking the right person for guidance could be the difference between making the right call and making a crucial mistake. "I'm a big believer in having mentors," skincare guru Jennifer Rock said on this week's episode of All In, JOE's new business show. Jennifer, who is behind the bestselling Cleanse Off Mitt and the Skingredients product range, says contacting people "you feel you shouldn’t or you couldn’t" has been hugely beneficial. "I reached out to global leaders of skincare and just happened to chance my arm and they do reply because... if they see the hunger in you they’ll help." It's a matter of putting yourself out there, she continued.

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"I sat on a panel recently with Jo Malone and it was like ten minutes in and I was like, ‘Hello Jo, would you like to mentor me?’. Not that she mentors but it’s just great to have someone that you can just ask, ‘Right, what would you do?’ "It’s not that it’s a constant, it’s just having the reassurance that you know you’re making the right decisions because nobody’s equipped to do this role by themselves. You have to lean on others." Sam Dennigan of healthy frozen food brand Strong Roots agreed, saying he has also contacted people he looks up to for advice. "LinkedIn was the best tool ever," he said. "I remember reaching out to one of the Innocent founders to have a coffee and I ended up having the coffee and it was unbelievably beneficial. These entrepreneurs who’ve made and done what they set out to do and have kind of semi-retired; they’re really, really interested and willing to have conversations." Jennifer and Sam feature on this week's episode of All In, JOE's brand new business show.

All In, backed by AIB, is available everywhere you get your podcasts and on YouTube every Wednesday