Why You Need To Ask For Help When Starting Your Business

As I’m in the process of bringing my first viable business opportunity (not a 10 yard lawn company or small ebay store that is run part-time out of your mother’s basement) to light, I find that being an entrepreneur does not mean that you should be alone. Many times I think that I have to do everything myself to not only achieve the success that I want but also the image that everyone strives for. The image where everyone looks at you and says, you made it, and you did it all by yourself. Pretty sweet image to picture, right?

But now I realize that it’s not about the image anymore. It’s about doing what you love. And sometimes you’re going to need help to get you there. For example, I’m not an expert at web programming, so why try to learn everything there is to now about web programming. If you’re thinking that by learning it and doing it yourself it will save you money, think again. You can get the money you need easily enough, even in the present economy. (I’ll talk about this subject in a future post.) The only benefits you will get from learning it yourself is the satisfaction of that little job and saving a few bucks. As an entrepreneur, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. Everyone tells you that. But what most people don’t tell you is that you then need to have someone else pick up your weaknesses.

I think a great example for this is RunKeeper, one of the top apps for the iPhone and brought by a company growing at an incredible rate. Jason Jacobs, the founder of RunKeeper was not some iPhone programming whiz that thought this would sell for good money. He is just a guy who loves running and decided that he wanted to follow his passion and life his life around it. He had the ideas and the business sense to get the business going, but he brought other people in to help with all the technical stuff. Their business is now blossoming and I’m sure that Nike is definitely taking a notice. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nike makes an offer to buy them soon (if they already haven’t).

When deciding on how to bring your business to life, take a few minutes and look at the model you have set up and ask yourself what you can do easily. Then look at the hard stuff and ask yourself if you can do this particular job to it’s fullest ability with the skills you have now. If the answer is no, and the skills aren’t easily acquired, like programming which takes a couple of years to get good at, then you should really consider asking for help. Whether that be a friend that you decide to add as a partner, or posting a quick help wanted ad and making a hire, you need to do it. Then you will truly be able to bring your business to it’s fullest potential.