MENTORNetwork
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Owner:
Jeremy O’Krafka
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Jobs Created:
2
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Inception:
2012
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Mentor:
Jeff Chorlton
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Industry:
Service
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Location:
Toronto, Ontario
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Business Profile
MENTORnetwork has the bold vision of creating a culture of mentorship across Canada. They work with Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Career Mentorship Programs, providing a mentorship training program MENTORready and an online mentor-matching platform MENTORup. Their game plan is to develop tools and technology that will enable their partners to create cultures of mentorship in communities around the world.
My Story
The search for the perfect mentor
Jeremy was inspired to become an entrepreneur after running a Student Works Painting franchise in university. The experience of running a business helped him get clear on the type of work that he is built for.
He started MENTORnetwork to make a difference for entrepreneurs and professionals navigating an increasingly challenging growth and development path. In 2008 when Jeremy himself went in search of a mentor, it took 5 long months to find one, despite the fact that he had a very strong network. He was inspired by the difference his mentor Gary made to him and saw an opportunity to help others create similar relationships.
Jeremy loves being an entrepreneur because it allows him to follow his intuition and focus on the projects that he feels uniquely positioned to fulfill. Having the opportunity to choose to work with clients that he loves gives him a great sense of purpose, even when things get challenging.
His most inspirational moment came after taking the leap of faith to invest in the MENTORup platform without any signed partners. He soon ran out of money and then within one week his first two MENTORup cheques came in, giving him the desperately needed cash flow to keep going. Jeremy remembers the feeling of elation in receiving this confirmation that his faith in what he was doing was well-placed.
Advice
“Prepare - you'll need the financial resources to see yourself through the launch of your business. You can save, find financing or start your business part-time in order to build up revenue so that you can start drawing an income. Talk to lots of potential customers before taking the leap. It's critical to understand the value your customer is really paying you get started. ”
