There’s a lot of advice out there that goes against the grain when it comes to what you’re good at. Most people will tell you the only way to get something done right is to do it yourself, but I think there’s some serious potential to waste time if you’re not hiring the best people for a job. If you’re the founder of your startup, chances are you’ll probably have to do a little bit of everything, especially in the beginning, but you shouldn’t be wasting time with stuff that you’re not brilliant at doing.
Some people may get nervous that their position in the startup becomes less important if they’re not the best person for a certain job. In my case, I always want to be the best designer and user interface person around. I confidently go around telling everyone that “I’m the best in the world,” even though it may not technically be true (according to me it is), I have always had a difficult time giving the reigns to someone else. I usually do the sales work, the management work, the accounting, and about everything else under the sun. But recently I’ve learned how painful it is to give up some of these things.
Even when it comes to your startup, letting go can feel extremely weird. But let’s face it. Your job as a founder is going to primarily be in sales, and possibly one other thing that you’re really good at (maybe it’s programming, or server load balancing, or if you’re me, writing brilliant blogs that receive raving reviews). If someone else can sell your startup as well as you can, then you might have a cause for concern. Some of my friends in their startups will complain, “I’m the only person in this startup that cares more than anyone else, why can’t everyone just be as excited as me?”
The reason nobody else is excited is because it’s not their idea. They don’t see the same vision or dream that you do, and they may have different intentions than you do. But that’s not always a bad thing. Sure you can motivate your team by divulging in how great their vested options will be in time, or how much they’ll contribute to a great effort, but beyond that, you’re going to need to stick to what you do best.
Everyone has their own management style, but I’ve found with newer companies that the co-founders will micro manage since they’re not used to letting other people take control. I can say first-hand that micro management is one of my least favorable styles since I’ve been on the receiving end. It stifles productivity and has a tendency to take a toll on the motivation factor. The effect is that it feels like every employee is being parented in the startup.
I’ve been reading The Harvard Business Review on Entrepreneurship, and their suggestion is to implement systems and controls to evaluate the results and milestones, as opposed to the actual productivity and how jobs are done. I’ll usually tell my team “I don’t care how you get this job done, and any decision under $200 can be made without me, but just make sure the client is happy and we deliver on time.” Other than that, I don’t care about details since the people I’m working with are extremely good at what they do. Donald Trump says to hire people and not trust them, which is fine if that’s how you want to approach it, but you’re never going to be able to have a say in 100% of the decisions made in your startup.
Giving up control over your startup is painful. But I think it’s also a good indication that it’s becoming a sustainable business, because the less you’re required to do, the more systemized a startup becomes. If that’s happening, you may eventually be able to walk away for a while and things will still work right. At least we hope. It stems from emphasizing your strenghts and refusing to dwell on fixing your weaknesses. The only way to do something right is to hire the best person to get it done for you.
About the Author
Jared Tame is an entrepreneur who has worked with hundreds of clients on website design, marketing, and sales, and currently works with StartPal providing high-quality, low-cost website design and e-commerce solutions to small businesses and startups.