Tag: entrepreneur

Calling all entrepreneurs!

Don’t underestimate the value of having a good team!
Don’t underestimate the value of having a good team!

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” – African proverb

It’s easier to do things by yourself. You can trust that you’ll “do things right.” Training others can be time consuming and stressful, but if you’re not willing to let go of the $10/hour tasks so that you can focus on the $1,000/hour tasks, you will cap your upside. We only have so much time in the day…

It’s perfectly fine to try to do things on your own. But to make the biggest possible impact, you’re going to need a great team around you.

The bare minimum

When working a W-2 job as an employee, don’t expect a raise just because you show up to work on time, you don’t take sick days, and you‘be been there for a long time. Showing up to work on time and not missing extra days is the bare minimum of what you should be doing. That’s part of the job! But just showing up doesn’t necessarily mean you’re providing value to your employer. You still have to perform, and that’s what your raise should be for (if you get one). It should be based on merit – how are you “deserving” of a raise? (By the way, I despise the word “deserve”…we are becoming very entitled and often feel we “deserve” things when we really are owed nothing.)

There are a lot of downsides with being an employee, one of which is that someone else gets to determine what you make (whether that’s hourly or salary). But that employer has taken the risk of being an entrepreneur. They are responsible for keeping the business afloat, for always striving to find more customers so that they can pay their employees. If you haven’t put in the legwork and only see the end result of what you think the employer is making, it can seem wrong with how much they’re making with how “little” work they’re currently doing. But that’s the wrong mindset to have. And if you want to do something about it, you have three options: negotiate for higher pay, find another job, or start your own business.

Building a business

when you are building a team, try to go from “I do it” to “we do it” to “they do it.” This is when you are a true business owner. Before that, you are merely self-employed.

“I Do It.” – At first, you probably will have to do everything. You’re the CEO, COO, CFO, Sales Manager, Salesman, Director of IT, and janitor.

“We Do It.” – Eventually, you’ll hire people to help you, delegating some responsibilities, but you will still be working in the business as well.

“They Do It.” – Finally, you need to get to the point where you can remove yourself from the business and it will still run.

If you have to be present for the business to run, you own a job. You don’t own a business yet.

Solving problems with money?

The “easy” solution is to throw more money at the problem. But while that may fix the problem short-term, it is really only acting as a band-aid. The underlying problem is still there. You may have stopped the bleeding or helped to prevent the wound from getting infected, but you haven’t healed anything.

While it’s tempting to throw money at the problem, use that either as a temporary stopgap, knowing that you need to get a plan together and put it in place ASAP – OR – avoid trying to fix your problems with money altogether (especially if you’re a startup/don’t have expendable cash yet).