This post is to discuss the importance of your team. There is a saying that goes “Behind every great man (or woman) stands a great woman (or man)”. I think this really sums up the importance of a team. Perhaps the modern equivalent should be “Behind every great entrepreneur or business builder is a great team”.
Now, what exactly does it mean to have a good team around you? These are the people who help you to achieve your goal. Simple as that. You cannot achieve much by yourself, let alone build a great business or investment portfolio without a group of people to help you. Your team will have expertise in areas that you don’t, that you can call on to fill in gaps in your knowledge. Remember, if you’re the smartest member of your team, you’re in trouble!
Author Napoleon Hill touched upon this concept in his revolutionary book, Think and Grow Rich with his chapter on The Power of the Mastermind. If you are serious about taking financial control, this is one book you should read and must have in your library while you build your own mastermind group.
Let’s look at this a little more closely and look at some likely team members.
MENTOR/COACH/ADVISER
This could be one or more persons who have done what you would like to do or who can keep you motivated and coach you.
Your mentors do not even need to be people you have personally met and spoken with necessarily! Remember, you can read books, listen to CDs and watch DVDs by people such Tony Robbins, Dr John Demartini, Pat Mesiti, Loral Langemeier and Robert Kiyosaki, to name just a few for example, or anyone at all who has inspired you with the things they say and do.
It could be a family member or friend who has overcome adversity and now leads an inspiring life.
Or it could be a small business owner in a completely different area to the field you are getting into, but they have good advice and hold you accountable.
A good coach and/or mentor is absolutely an invaluable resource and quite often they believe in you more than you believe in yourself. Their faith in you can keep you going when you’d like to give up.
ACCOUNTANT
Firstly a good accountant is a must. A good accountant will be able to give you good and pertinent business or investment advice and also be able to “crunch” the numbers for you.
Choose your accountant well, preferably one who is also a business owner or investor (or both) like yourself.
An experienced accountant will likely have or had clients in similar businesses or situations to yourself who have gone through the same experiences and challenges you are going and are likely to go through and are also able to provide advice on correct business structures, entities and tax implications.
A knowledgeable accountant can save you both time and money with relevant advice at the right time, provided you consult.
SOLICITOR/LAWYER
A good lawyer or solicitor is a must on your team. They are able to advise you on all legal aspects of what you are wanting to do, from contracts to structures and entities in which to hold your businesses or assets to any legal matter.
This is particularly pertinent if you are likely to be doing business overseas or dealing with overseas companies, but even for domestic matters, have a good solicitor who knows you and your situation well and so can advise accordingly.
BANKER OR BANKING STRATEGIST
Introduce yourself to your bank manager if possible, or at the very least the main customer service representative at your local branch when you open your business bank account.
Show them your business plan or at least discuss the business or area you are going into before you need to actually take the next step.
This will be very useful should you require a bank loan, overdraft or line of credit facilities at a later stage.
If you put enough business through the bank, you may even qualify for a private lender who will look after all your needs and be your first point of contact.
Depending on the business you are going into, your go to banking person may be a mortgage broker, if for example, you are building your real estate portfolio as your business.
STOCKBROKER/TRADING ADVISER
As one of your income streams, stocks and investing in the stock market should be on your agenda. In this case you may want to consider using the expertise of a stockbroker. This will be particularly useful if you’d like to do some more complex trading such as using derivatives, options and warrants and similar trades.
Certainly when starting off with investing in the stock market, I would highly recommend doing at least some trading courses and as much reading as possible. Consider joining a “buddy” group of people in similar situations and at the same level as you.
As you become more proficient at trading you can look at more complex transactions and
VENTURE CAPITALIST/ANGEL INVESTOR
If you are starting a business and you don’t want to borrow from a bank, you may want to consider using a venture capitalist or angel investor to provide funds for your venture.
They will usually want a part ownership or a stake in your company, but this will be less than a controlling interest. They are usually happy to just be silent partners providing seed capital and are just looking at a return on their capital investment in the short to medium term.
They can also sometimes be good sources of advice, as many venture capitalists/angel investors are retired business people looking for opportunities to invest funds from their former businesses into new businesses.
Another area to consider for funding might be to use crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter. This is just one example of a crowdfunding site, and there will be others depending on which country you are in.
These are just some of the people you may have on your team. There could be other specialist types of people depending on what your venture is and what skills are required.
Consider people who will be complementary to your personality type. For example, if you are a big picture person, it would be useful to have someone on your team who is a meticulous details person.
Good luck with your venture!
