5 Small-Business Owners Share the Secrets to Building a Strong Network of MentorsFrom finding the right people to making it easy for your mentors, here are some tips on building the ultimate brain trust.

The following excerpt is from Michael Glauser's new bookMain Street Entrepreneur. Buy it now fromAmazon|Barnes & Noble|iTunes

Thriving entrepreneurs turn to a brain trust of mentors to help them build their business. These mentors might be friends, family members, neighbors, teachers, entrepreneurs, former colleagues and business owners.

Savvy advisors can help you with every phase of business development. They can offer expertise, provide resources, eliminate road blocks, introduce important contacts and help you avoid serious mistakes during your journey.

Nearly all the entrepreneurs we met across America have developed a brain trust of mentors who assist them with a wide variety of issues.

Here is the advice they offered for building a strong network of mentors:

1. Make it easy

You pick your heroes and chart a course to get to them. Once you get an introduction, you want to maintain a friendship. . . . I found out that one of my mentors loves to go on morning hikes. So I asked him, "How about I meet you at the Mount Sanitas Trailhead and we'll go hiking tomorrow at 7:30 a.m.?' And he's like, "That's funny, that's where and when I usually go hiking.' I'm like, "Perfect, I will meet you there!' So I made it really easy for them to meet with me. That friendship can blossom into mentorship and you can ask them to be on your advisory board. . . . Three of my favorite mentors are now on my board, and I have a regular relationship with them. So I really lean on my mentors for a lot.

--Justin Gold, founder ofJustin's, natural and organic nut butters and peanut butter cups

2. Be mindful of people's time

I think it is huge not to be needy, but to know how to ask for help. You have to be respectful of people's time. You have to know enough not to ask the most basic questions. Research enough so you are not wasting someone's time when you go to them. Do the hard work along the way so they can see what progress you are making. If you are not following through and taking it seriously, then you are wasting their time and they are going to give up.

-- Amy Gardner, founder ofScarpa, a women's clothing, shoe and accessory boutique

3. Take in all the lessons

I think that learning from other people's mistakes, and most importantly, their successes, is the only way to learn in your business. When I started out I had coffee meetings ten times a week. I was really wired. I just started picking people's brains. So I believe 100 percent in mentors.

-- Nicole DeBoom, founder ofSkirt Sports, a women's activewear company

4. Keep your options open

我有一个广泛的非正式的朋友和导师out there, and I think that's one of the most critical things: to try to mine good information from good people. I regularly communicate with a half-dozen people about aspects of our business, whether it's staffing or financials or product or factories. That's one of the advantages I have starting this brand.

-- Steve Sullivan, founder ofStio, outdoor apparel and gear company

Find people who genuinely want you to succeed

I think we have been pretty blessed to have so many amazing advisors. These are people who actually care for us. When your friends, family, and people who have known you for a long time step in and tell you something, you better listen. To that end, we have been phenomenally lucky to have great advisors. This list is pretty endless.

--Allen Lim, founder ofSkratch Labs,a natural healthcare company