Mark Bouris - Business, Mentoring and Social Media
We interviewed one of Australia’s most respected and successful entrepreneurs and businessmen Mark Bouris on topics ranging from being resilient in business, finding happiness, social media, mentoring and the importance of compound.
“Happiness is not in the goal, the happiness is in the struggle to get to the goal…”
Suffering is part of happiness, so we don’t know to be happy unless you suffer.” - Mark Bouris
Taking risks, setbacks and mistakes are part of the learning process and the more you learn from your mistakes along the way, the more successful you’ll become.
In any situation in life, business, work, school, TAFE or uni, we need to be resilient in these environments and situations. Check out this video of Mark use the analogy of swimming at the beach and acclimatising yourself to the temperature of the water overtime as an example of how to build resilience.
Mark quoted renowned scientist Albert Einstein who said, “the most powerful force in the world today is the power of compound.” This was Mark’s response to Matt comment on how if business people neglect important problems, problems that may have negative impact, the problems just “compounds” or gradually grows, but still grows bigger and bigger like a bill being ignored.
“Social Media is a non-negotiable.”
Mark and Matt both agree that social media plays a vital part for any business to promote themselves and their services to a broader audience. Watch the video below to find out more about how social media is creating new jobs.
Here’s some fantastic advice by Mark on starting your own business:
Keep your day job because you need cash flow, until you are certain that the revenue from the business can replace your day job
Work on your ideas in your spare time
Mark believes that mentoring can come in three different categories:
The first type of mentoring is life guidance via observation. In other words, seeing what others do and learning from their mistakes and copying what made them successful. Mark uses the examples of some of his school teachers and football coaches when he was a kid who influenced him in a positive way.
The next type of mentorship is when “guidance becomes advice” meaning another person is telling you what to do or conversely recommending what you should do. Mark is open in stating that this did not usually work for him when he was young as he stated: “Advice through people offering you advice is less powerful because I tended to reject it.”
The type of mentorship which Mark is passionate about and which is what he is basing his Global Mentorship Movement on is in two parts:
That the mentor asks relevant questions and
That the mentor keeps the mentee accountable to their answers
Mark Bouris’ key questions that can help you bring out your inner mentor
How long will it take?
What’s your plan?
Can you afford it?
Can you execute on it?
Do you have the mental ability to execute on it?
Do you have the backing to do it?
Do you have the skills to do it?
Are you the right person to be in business?
Mark says that the main goal of mentorship is “to get people to think for themselves” although, in some circumstances, the mentor can offer an opinion.
About Mark Bouris:
Today, Mark runs Yellow Brick Road, a company that offers financial advice, financial services, lending and mortgages. He was also known for Wizard Homeloans which was the second largest lending group apart from the major banks in Australia. He’s been acknowledged by the government for his contribution to the finance industry, and right now his recent project is mentoring, and he aims to start a global mentorship program. You can check out his website at www.mentored.com.au which is a community of official mentors who he’s assigned to answer your questions about business. You can also check out his own podcast at https://www.podcastone.com.au/The-Mentor