Tag: startup

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).