The topic of the month is expansion. The idea of every startup is to grow and to grow as quickly as possible. The problem is that you need cash flow and to have cashflow you need business. I was very fortunate that I had a bit of hard saved money from my rugby days that literally bled for. While this could help sustain me and my family for a while it would not last forever. I remember that my target in the early days was to get to my rugby salary as quickly as possible. Sadly I had to put that “pipe dream” on the back burner. I had to learn how to live a simpler and more cost-effective life.
In hindsight that helped me run a business on very low overheads. The key in any business is to keep your overheads as low as possible. When the time came for me to employ extra staff I was very careful and reluctant in a sense, as I knew it would increase my overheads and not necessarily my income. Even though I was very cautious I still made mistakes. It is very difficult to judge someone in a 30-minute interview.
Over the years I have employed some incredible staff but I have also employed a few duds that cost me quite a bit of money. It’s part of the expansion process. The fact of the matter is that you can’t do everything so you need to employ people in areas where you, as the business owner, are not strong.
I heard a very good analogy from someone the other day and it goes like this. When you start a business you start building a ship. You start by building the engine because that is what will ultimately make the ship sail. As the ship starts sailing you cannot get stuck in the engine room because someone needs to steer the ship in the right direction. To be able to get out of the engine room you need to employ capable people that you can leave in the engine room and go up to the “bridge” and determine the direction the ship needs to sail in.
Make peace with the fact that nobody will ever share your passion and love for the business and then trust them to do their job. Expansion is critical to your success as are the people who grow with you. I have always lived and managed my business by the following principle.
“ Trusting you is my decision. Proving me right is your decision”
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