Lead Funding CEO, Victor Mitchell, Sheds Light on Finding Business Partners That Complement You, Not Clone You
One of the most significant challenges facing any entrepreneur is finding quality like-minded individuals to round out the executive team. Entrepreneurs and small business owners need to fill their ranks with talented, creative, dedicated men and women who share their vision and can see that dream through to reality.
Unfortunately, finding those exceptional men and women is no easy task. Even in the best of times, locating the talent to build a business can be a heavy lift, and many would-be entrepreneurs have been stopped dead in their tracks by the inability to find the staff they need.
A Common Problem
Everyone who owns a business has trouble finding qualified individuals for their offices and factories occasionally, but entrepreneurs face some particular challenges. From the serial entrepreneur getting their latest business venture off the ground to the first-time business owner building out their vision, these talented individuals must seek out business partners who share their dedication.
At the same time, entrepreneurs must be careful not to seek out clones of themselves, a frequent misstep that can be deadly to the growing enterprise. Instead of seeking out business partners who share their every vision and echo their every idea, entrepreneurs need to find talented men and women who complement their strengths.
Landing the Perfect Team
To succeed, entrepreneurs must seek out partners who complement their vision. They must look for individuals who can provide the skills they may be lacking, those who can understand the vision for the company and work hard to make it a reality.
One of the biggest mistakes first-time entrepreneurs make is putting together a leadership team that consists of nothing more than clones of themselves. The entrepreneur who is a tech expert may surround him or herself with avid computer geeks, building a team that is technically savvy but not necessarily up to the challenges of running a business. The owner of a new financial services firm may pull out their contact list and start building a team of similar experts, not understanding that all kinds of expertise, from business savvy to customer service, are necessary for success.
Avoiding the Most Common Mistakes
Those mistakes are common, but that does not mean would-be entrepreneurs need to fall victim to them. Indeed, entrepreneurs and those with the courage to start their businesses are known for their flexibility and their creative solutions to difficult problems. Knowing where others have erred can ease the path to success, allowing entrepreneurs to build a great business — and a great team.
No matter what the nature of the business, it is essential for entrepreneurs to look at all the requirements of the new company, not just what they bring to the table. That means creating a list of essential skills and talents, from accounting prowess and tax expertise to experience in customer service, purchasing and dealing with regulatory requirements.
Developing a Complementary Set of Skills
Once that list of core competencies is on the table, entrepreneurs and business owners can work on filling out the executive suite and staffing the firm with the most talented men and women they can find. When deciding on a hiring process, it is also critical for entrepreneurs to do a skills assessment of their own, outlining their own greatest strengths and admitting to their biggest weaknesses.
It can be difficult for a hard-charging entrepreneur to complete this kind of self-assessment, and some business owners are better at introspection than others. Even so, it is important for entrepreneurs and business owners to understand what they do best, and where they can do better.
Putting Together a Killer Team
That latter category will be especially valuable when it comes to putting together a killer team. By honestly assessing their weaknesses, entrepreneurs can start to develop the teams that will help them succeed.
Hiring men and women who bring talents, assets, skills, and experiences that the entrepreneur might lack can be a brilliant move, one that could put the newly launched company head and shoulders above its competition. The entrepreneur who is great at tech by lousy at interpersonal relationships might seek out a business partner who brings those essential soft skills to the table. Their role is to round out the organization and complement the skills of the business owner.
There are plenty of business owners who surround themselves with Kool-Aid drinkers and yes-men. You can probably name a few of those individuals, but that does not mean their path is the right one. If you want to build your own successful business, you need to surround yourself with men and women who complement your skills, not those who merely echo your ideas.
About Victor Mitchell:
A serial entrepreneur, Victor Mitchell has successfully founded, acquired, and/or turned around numerous diverse business ventures over the past 30 years. His ventures include interests in finance, transportation, communications, technology, building supplies, real estate development and brokerage services.
Victor Mitchell is the founder and CEO of Lead Funding, a specialty lending organization that provides innovative private financing solutions for homebuilders and developers, reducing their red tape and speeding up loan decisions.
Victor Mitchell around the web:
· https://twitter.com/search?q=%40_VictorMitchell+
