“Start hanging around people that are doing what you want to do. Look at the pros, the masters, the giants – and learn from them. Become a student in life. And then start doing little things that you can feel good about” – Les Brown

Why repeat other people’s mistakes when you can avoid them by taking known precautions others can tell you about? Each person you meet in life will have a unique blend of knowledge, skills and experiences that could potentially benefit others – including you.

Sadly, some people neglect to “tap” from other people’s experiences.And this causes them to go through needless pains in order to achieve their goals.

So, who are these people who can help you avoid re-inventing the wheel?

Some are your friends, relatives, colleagues etc. Others could be celebrity types you don’t have ready access to. They may have proven expertise in a particular activity you wish to engage in.

I once had to prepare a business plan towards my first attempt at raising funds for a fish-farming project. So I sought help from a former accountant colleague. He gave me useful details to make my plan/offer more attractive to prospective investors.

When he became unavailable to continue helping me, I quickly thought of someone else. Harvey MacKay’s saying that “Dig Your Well Before You Become Thirsty”proved quite useful to me.

While introducing my services to various companies, I had deliberately stayed in touch with certain executives, by giving them updates on progress I was making with my work. As a result, they were thus able to gauge my level of seriousness over time.

When I eventually needed help with my business plan, I approached one of them – a partner in a successful corporate training firm. On an agreed date, despite his extremely busy schedule, he took me through the basic elements of business plan preparation. It was one of the most enlightening experiences I had ever had.

Eighteen years of banking experience, combined with over ten years of management training and consulting experience. He drew upon all that, to give me a down-to-earth and realistic picture of how to prepare/present a business plan that worked.

But how do you go about meeting people who can help you, you might ask?

1. Remove the blocks from your thinking. Stop thinking you cannot get someone – even a stranger or an important person – to help you. Instead, think like this: “He or she is only human – flesh and blood – just like me, so it can’t be that difficult”.

2. Find out who can help you. Make sure you are clear in your mind about the reason(s) why you think he/she can help you.

3. Develop an action plan for reaching out to her.

4. Be relentless in pursuing the person. You are the one who needs help, so you must be ready to accept whatever they tell you about their availability.

In the case of the training consultants I mentioned above, I repeatedly visited their office premises at least once every month (or twice at times) for over 10 months. Within that period, I never got to see any of them more than twice. Yet, by the time I needed help, that was enough to make one of them take me seriously.

Very few people(if any) will tell you they cannot spare the time to help you.

But they could ask you to make repeat visits before eventually granting you audience.

Follow up diligently, and put your thoughts together up front. Rehearse your points (write them down if you prefer), and use them to set the tone of the meeting. When they give you their attention, your presentation will determine how they respond to your request – and if they’ll want to meet with you subsequently.

So, be careful how you “sell” yourself. Be open, candid, very sincere – and let it show through. Your physical appearance matters a lot. You do not however need to dress expensively.

Strategic partnership can also help you avoid re-inventing the wheel

Another idea you can use: Join forces with someone whose skills, knowledge and resources complement yours. Someone who has something you lack, but which you need – and possibly cannot get on your own(at that point in time). It could be money, physical resources (like a building or office space) or experience in an area you wish to venture.

Strategic partnership can be exploited by an entrepreneur to raise needed funds. It can also save you the hassle of making avoidable mistakes, or enable you access useful resources to achieve progress.

One example: To launch a book publishing business, you could partner with an experienced book writing coach. In exchange for giving her clients special discounts to get published on your platform, she could guide you to setup your venture with minimal trial and error.

Final Words

In certain societies, people may not readily share what they know – or have – with others, even when promised equivalent benefit in return. As a result, more people are likely to end up making avoidable mistakes. But even in such cultures, you can still find persons willing to help you shorten your learning curve. Just persist – and look beyond the discouraging results that may show up. Doing so can help you avoid re-inventing the wheel, so that you can succeed faster.