Remembering your Why
By: Adam Mitcheson
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Education, Careers, Technology, Mentorship

Anyone familiar with the work of Simon Sinek will be familiar with his “Start With Why” philosophy, putting your purpose, your ‘Why’ at the core of what you do. Whilst I think most businesses to aim to adhere to this, it’s very easy to become so immersed in the day to day of what you are doing that it can be difficult to lift your head up and remind yourself why you are doing it.

This week, I’ve had a few great reminders of exactly why we are building www.my2be.com

The original purpose behind my2be was to help connect everyone with Mentors to help them through their education, career and life, but also to help people connect informally, so they can at least get some answers to help them progress. This was born from personal experience, I graduated university the same summer as the global recession hit in 2008, and the job market was turned upside down. This gave birth to lots of bogus companies that were basically pyramid schemes dressed up as marketing companies, pedalling people for little or no pay, and promising them the world in a matter of weeks. I was reminded of this this week whilst I was in a coffee shop when I saw two young lads going through an induction to such a company. Ironically it was at Manchester Piccadilly Train Station, the same station I walked away from such a job. I was instantly reminded of my experience and remembered that the only reason I even ended up there was because I felt like there were no other real options. How wrong I was, there is a plethora of options, even in a recession, but people struggle to find those who can guide them and point them in the right direction. This reminded me of exactly why we created my2be, to help these young people avoid the bullshitters and realise the opportunities available to them.

Whilst this was a nice reminder, later in the week, I was hit with total validation of our ‘Why’. One of the features we have built is ‘Virtual Coffee’ where you can connect informally, with no further commitment compared to a mentor request. I received a Virtual Coffee request from a student that saw me speak at Manchester Entrepreneur’s What Next Conference. He was feeling a little lost, had a desire to start his own business, but didn’t have any idea how to start or which direction to take. We spoke via video call, and I could see parallels with my situation when I started out, and gave advice based on my experience. However, I could sense that there was still something holding him back, and when I asked, he very openly said he was simply lacking in confidence. Whilst there is no magic formula for confidence, I reassured him of what he’d already done, and gave a few pointers from what I had learnt. His reaction was incredible, a weight had been lifted, and I hadn’t performed any miracles, I just had experience that he could relate to, and this was absolute validation of our ‘Why’.

We built this platform so that people can connect, build relationships, and help each other. We are striving to create the best possible experience and instances like this help us to remember why we started in the first place so we can help many, many more people now and in the future.