You’re different than the average person. And you know it.
You like to make money, sure. Everyone likes to make money. But money isn’t what drives you. If it were, you’d have gotten yourself a high-paying desk job at a bank, or a union job on an oil rig.
But no, that isn’t you. You crave something more out of what you do. You crave some meaning. Some sort of purpose.
And that’s why you took the path you did. It’s certainly not the easy path, and you had to make sacrifices along the way. While your friends were out having fun on the weekend and burning up their paychecks, you took time to build your business. Or maybe you were working a weekend job just to keep a roof over your head while you built yourself up.
But after all that hard work, it’s finally paying off for you. After taking care of that baby for so long, it’s hard to imagine anyone else having any involvement with it. So you fly solo, but that only gets you so far. Eventually, you’ll stall.
Someone once told me a phrase that’s stuck with me for years. I don’t remember who said it, but its wisdom has impacted my life profoundly.
“You can do anything, but you can’t do everything”
And it’s true. As an entrepreneur, you’ve probably done things you had no idea you could do. As a result, you feel like you can do anything. But each of us only have so much time on this planet, and there’s not enough time to do everything.
So how can you, as an entrepreneur, as the one in control of your business, manage to get everything done without doing everything?
The Answer Is Teamwork
Look, you’re the business owner. You built it. And you’re the focal point of what you do. You get the glory.
But no one succeeds on their own. It goes back to our earliest days as nomadic hunter-gatherers. We stuck together as a band because we knew it was far harder to survive on our own. And the same goes for modern life.
Wayne Gretzky may have scored more career points than anyone else in NHL history, but he didn’t do it on his own. His achievements were made possible by the rest of his team, who backed him up in every game, his coaches who helped him hone his talent, the bus drivers who took him and his team around the continent, his manager who helped negotiate his salary and his endorsement deals, the legions of fans who went to see him play, and a whole lot more.
And when someone like Elton John, Beyonce, or Pearl Jam hit the stage, they don’t do it on their own either. They’ve got an entire team of supporting musicians, techs, roadies, assistants, drivers, merch booth attendants, and more.
Some of the greatest minds in business have spoken about the need to have a solid team on which you can rely as well. These are a few of my favourites.
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team” – John Wooden, former basketball player and award-winning UCLA coach
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success” – Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motors
“Teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results” – Andrew Carnegie, American industrial entrepreneur
Each of the men above has enjoyed great success in their lives. And they did so as part of a team.
Assembling Your Team
So what sort of team do you need in your business?
The specific answer depends, of course, on what type of business you run. But I’ve yet to come across a business that didn’t need the following:
The Visionary
Every business starts with a vision. From the smallest to the largest, each one has something they’d like to accomplish. Whether your goal is clearly and specifically defined or more nebulous, having a visionary in the lead is essential to your success.
Without the visionary, you’ll have no clear path going forward. And while just taking off and driving can be fun for a weekend trip, it’s a terrible business plan.
In this case, the visionary is almost certainly going to be you.
An Accountant
Without someone to manage your funds and keep everything square and clean, you’d be surprised at how quickly money can start disappearing. And when tax time comes, you’ll have a nightmare trying to put everything together.
Hiring a professional accountant can help you relieve that stress and keep your finances in order.
A Marketing Team
When you’re building a business, one of the most important elements is finding people with whom you can do business. After all, whether you’re selling a product or a service, the common denominator is selling. And having a steady stream of people to whom you can sell is a great way to make sure your business becomes a success.
There are different ways to market yourself, and you should take a look at the different options. But most businesses can benefit from a digital marketing strategy of some sort.
The Truth About Teamwork
Humans are naturally team players, but after two decades of conditioning in school to do everything on your own, the importance of teamwork may have been beaten out of you.
After all, when you take a test collaboratively, what happens? You get a big fat “F”, a reprimand, and maybe even kicked out of school! And if you happen to be in university when that happens, all the tuition money in the world won’t save you there.
But when it comes to the business world, entrepreneurs are different. Entrepreneurs recognize the importance of doing things a little differently than most people. Dave Ramsay put it best when he said:
“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”
So live like no one else, and watch your business
