A lot has been written about why having a mentor is a good idea for entrepreneurs. One great article by Peter Cohan of Inc., gives seven reasons you need a mentor. It’s clear that the experts agree: working with a mentor has a positive impact on startups.

But I want to show you evidence – hard numbers – that proves that mentorship really does create greater success for small businesses:

Thanks to a recent survey of our small business clients, we learned that in 2016 alone, SCORE’s clients started more than 54,000 new businesses and created over 79,000 new jobs. Those numbers represent a huge impact in not only the success of that individual business, but also the prosperity of the U.S. economy and in local communities. This is all thanks to the hard work of our thousands of mentors across the country who meet one-on-one with hopeful or current small business owners and guide them through the obstacles and questions that they have faced themselves.

In addition to initial startup guidance, SCORE’s clients stayed in business. 96% of SCORE’s clients who were operational for more than a year when they came to SCORE remain in business into FY17.

71% of our survey respondents agreed that a long-term relationship with SCORE would be beneficial to them. And 83% agreed that they would recommend SCORE to friends or associates.

Mentoring is so effective because it is about skipping past the time and effort of “reinventing the wheel” of business ownership, and also pushing an entrepreneur’s vision beyond its normal limits. An outside perspective from someone who has been in your shoes can see the footpaths all around – the ones that scale mountains and the ones that avoid treacherous terrain.

So if you’re really ready to take your idea or business to the next level, bring in outside expertise. Connecting with a SCORE mentor is absolutely free and completely confidential. So what’s stopping you? Get in touch with a mentor today.