One of the things I learned in entrepreneurship life is that you cannot mix your emotions with business and you should always be open to new investors. I am used to doing things on my own and I am where I am in life because I put in the work to make things happen. I hate fake humbleship enough to admit that I take a lot of pride in all the steps I went through to build my career. But opening your business to potential partnerships does not make you weak nor give you less control of things. The opposite! It is important to see when there is potential space to grow.
It is definitely important to work with the right people, this should go unsaid, but the truth is that you never know where you will meet the right connections. Being open to the network is one of the main ways to find space to grow. Even if you think you are in a good place and you don’t need outside investors.
An outside investor simply means working with people who are more successful or more resourceful than you are, which tends to push people’s buttons and brings up that emotion called ego! Here is one thing about business though, if you see somebody more successful than you work with them, don’t compete. Opening your business to bigger opportunities can save you time, and money and certainly doesn’t mean you have less control over things.
I have been well-mentored to understand that, in business, there are no emotions. In business, there are facts, problems, and solutions. It does not matter how you like to handle your clients, how you like to handle your business, or how you like to manage your team, you need to be transparent and think straight. I will admit that it is not an easy thing to do, because when shit hits the fan, showing emotion can be the first reaction you have without even noticing it. It is always a work in progress, but I have been doing this long enough and, as I said, I have been well-mentored to know exactly what should not be done. Except when we are talking about opening your company to outside investors.
For the first time, I had somebody coming to me and saying “hey, let me know if you need money because I would love to invest in your business”. I was half shocked as well as half pissed off. Do I look like I need your investment? Absolutely not, but having partners and people investing in you doesn’t mean that you are doing something wrong, it means that you are doing something right and, because of that, this is your opportunity to grow.
I will say this, I always learn things in the hardest way… this was one of those moments. I had to learn that you should always be greedy for money. Always. No matter where you are in life, there is always space to grow! So, for all start-ups out there, turn off the “my business is my vision and my creations” mode, and turn on the “I want to be huge” mode to leave more space for potential partnerships. There is no growth when you work alone, surrounding yourself with the right network is as important as creating a dream team.
Of course, always be on your guard. It is important to know who you are going to do business with and what qualities your future partners are bringing to the table. One thing is to learn how to be greedy for money, another thing is giving up on your vision or your values because you are desperate.
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