Finding the right mentor

If you only do what you know, you’ll run out of things to do pretty quickly.

I’ve always believed that even if you don’t know how to do something, you should grab the opportunity with both hands and say yes – and work out how to do it later.

Peter Wallace

When you’re starting out as an entrepreneur it’s so valuable to find someone who has more experience than you and can help guide you on your business journey. This is where mentors come in.

When I began my business journey, I would simply ring people up who had done what I was trying to do and ask them for advice. When I was launching Virgin Atlantic, I turned to Sir Freddie Laker who shared his experiences with his own airline to advise me on how to set up the company. His advice was invaluable, and he quickly became a trusted friend.

Virgin Atlantic

I learned so much from different mentors. So, when we started our not-for-profit Virgin StartUp, I wanted to make sure mentoring was a key part of the support it offers when it decides to fund a start-up.

I’m also thrilled to welcome Love Island star and entrepreneur Montana Brown to the Virgin StartUp mentoring team. She has so much expertise she can bring to the team after starting and scaling her own ethical swimwear brand Swim Society. She joins our panel of other brilliant mentors on the Virgin StartUp team.

Montana Brown

Virgin StartUp provides funding for start-ups in their very early stages and helps them to grow. If you’re funded, it also offers six months of mentoring support. This is so valuable to first-time entrepreneurs, and it isn’t offered by every other start-up loan provider.

It’s incredible to see how some Virgin StartUp companies have scaled and are now stocked across Virgin companies around the world or are a part of our loyalty club Virgin Red’s offering.

Virgin StartUp

So, if you have a big idea or a unique skill and want to learn how to grow this into a business – head over to VirginStartUp.