The Blog For Entrepreneurs

That person has a secret, however, and that is the secret of the team. The basic fact of life in business is that you can’t do it on your own. Yes, ideas, leadership, action, motivation and even funding can come from one person, but one person will not succeed, in any big way, if the goal is to go it alone. Picking the right team is just as important as picking the right idea, the right sector, the right industry at the right time.

Here are my tips on how to do it.

1. Find a Confidant.

Bill Gates & Paul Allen, Sergey Brin & Larry Page, Lennon & McCartney, Marks & Spencer, Rolls & Royce all famous and now legendary business partners ones who could dream together, work together and succeed together. Having that one person who can follow your thought process, tell you when you are being genius, when you are being stupid and bring you up when you are down, is an essential part of being in business.

You should actively seek out a person like this. Where do you find them? Thought one… colleagues, friends, suppliers, team mates they could be anywhere. The one thing I do know is you will know when you meet them, just make sure you are on the lookout.

This person will be the one who says, about your latest idea ‘sounds crazy and I am not really sure what you are on about, but let me figure out how we can do it’.

2. Key Worker.

In any part of your business there has to be one person who sets the bench mark for everyone else, a performer who acts as a motivator to others. I have actively looked for this person during the initial recruitment process.

How do you find them? I will tell you how I have done it. I simply put and advert in the paper (free papers especially), booked a room in a hotel for an entire day and interviewed as many applicants as I could.

I was brutal with everyone, those with degrees I asked why they thought I should hire someone who wasted for years of their lives on a ‘useless’ degree, and I asked those without a degree why I should recruit someone who was ‘too dim’ to go to university. My whole tactics were designed to annoy, prod, poke and get a reaction.

This process brought me in to contact with so many fabulous, motivated, intelligent people that I never, ever worry about recruiting good people… If you are not getting the right people, you are doing the interview wrong, simple as that.

3. Recruit a Prodigy.

Recruit someone from college or university or off the welfare line. Basically someone who is hungry and willing to work VERY hard. Nurture them, teach them and make them into another you. Then ask them to go out and do the same in your organisation. This person has to be totally committed to working and learning from you, if you get the right one you will get some great people out of the process.

One thing you must know, this person will inevitably leave and start their own business, maybe your competition. That day will be your proudest, whatever you achieve, trust me. In the time they are with you, you will hone your management skills, they will build your business and even if they do become your competitor you will have ‘loyal competition’.

4. Recruit a First Class Trainer.

McDonalds became a success by being able to replicate service, taste and quality of food. Have a Big Mac in Melbourne, Florida or Melbourne, Australia and they taste the same, the service is the same, the atmosphere is the same it is, essentially, the same experience.

If you have a business that is successful a training team or training program will be able to replicate your philosophy, work ethic and values throughout your organization. Having a trainer capable of leading this push will pay dividends.

5. Hire a Chairman.

No entrepreneur, especially a young one, wants some grey-haired person telling them what to do. That’s not what you are looking for. Find yourself a senior person in your industry that has achieved many of the things you would like to achieve and take them on part-time. You will get some credibility for your board and you will get a fantastic mentor.

These would be the essential team members I would be looking for. With a team like this you have the people to keep the ideas flowing, rein you in when you are too crazy or too conceited, execute your business plans and invent new ones, manage your operation while you are trying new things and grow your business beyond your own capabilities.

The power of team cannot be underestimated and I would urge you to look at your business and decide where your team needs some pruning or some beefing up. Each business, of course, has different team requirements but the above will not be far off for any organization. Take this guy below:

You can bet he need a confidant to even discuss the idea of leaping out of a plane without a parachute. His key worker was probably the one filming, his prodigy was probably the one clipping him in and, effectively, saving his life, the first class trainer was probably the one coordinating everything and his chairman was the guy who made sure everything didn’t end up with a large pool of blood on the floor.

Regards
David
@OneLifeNoFear