“Increasing my capacity” is something I am constantly telling myself in an attempt to justify my level of workload. Regardless of how much you encourage yourself and try to stretch yourself as an entrepreneur, there is a point to where you reach a limit of just how much you can humanly accomplish. As a serial entrepreneur in pursuit of solving all the world’s problems, this was an extremely difficult realization. I have discovered a solution to this problem; partnership.
This word typically gets a negative reaction from small business owners. You think you know and have all it takes to make the most out of your business. The truth is, when you consider the oceans of knowledge available in each field of business, we all individually know a little, and none of us know much. I believe in most cases, this mentality is the leading prohibition of business growth. All struggles and setbacks in business typically fall under 3 major categories, time, money, and talent.
Just a refresher, there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, and 52 weeks in a year. After calculating minimal time for sleep, shower, family, and other activities, the time needed to grow your business into the vision you have for it has been cut short. You don’t have the time to make it all happen. This is where delegation comes into play. You must find someone to partner with to increase the amount of time needed to accomplish the goals and requirements of your business. This partner may be an additional owner, another sub company that provides a service to you (like Gaston Alive!), or an employee.
Money is always a challenge for small business owners, especially with the 
turbulent economy we have faced over the past several years. Considering a partnership with another individual, or pursuing opportunities to partner with different private and government lending institutions may be the thing that makes your business soar. Behind almost every successful business is an entrepreneur who faced similar economic challenges, and was able to form a partnership to launch and eventually fulfill their vision.
turbulent economy we have faced over the past several years. Considering a partnership with another individual, or pursuing opportunities to partner with different private and government lending institutions may be the thing that makes your business soar. Behind almost every successful business is an entrepreneur who faced similar economic challenges, and was able to form a partnership to launch and eventually fulfill their vision.Often times we have a vision for something and don’t have the talent required to bring it to pass. When I decided to begin my 4th business endeavor, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to pull it off by myself. I had no experience in its field at all. All I had was the vision. This posed a real problem for me. As an entrepreneur, I couldn’t let this problem get the best of me, so I decided to seek advice from some people in the field that I respected most. By doing this, I was able to recruit some seasoned talent. My personality didn’t lend well to the hands on management of this type of business, so I recruited a manager with this talent. Since this business began over 5 years ago, I have continually added partners with leadership skills and talent into the business and have grown it into a business that has been recognized nationally in the industry. These partnerships have not only contributed to the accomplishment of my vision, but have given opportunity for those that I have partnered with to accomplish theirs as well.
This month’s article by Preston will be in June edition of Gaston Alive!
