Bolstering Your Weaknesses
Entrepreneurship is tough and will reveal all your weaknesses quickly. You need to identify the things that might hold you back, and get the help you need to improve.
In the last few posts, I wrote about the characteristics, qualities, and mindset you need to succeed as a startup founder. If you read those and were left unsure if the timing is right to start your new business, then you probably already know that it is not going to be a great idea. Be honest with yourself and your own limitations. Entrepreneurship is a tough quest, and it will reveal all your weaknesses quickly. If you hit most of the items required to be a successful founder but have some areas you still need help, then maybe the best bet for you is to find a co-founder that is strong where you are weaker. As a founding team you might have the exact ingredients for success. You should also work on your personal development by finding mentors or advisors that can help you be better in areas that you need to improve. Let’s get into it here.
No founder is going to possess every quality needed for success on day one. However, you want to be sure that you have enough of the key elements to give yourself a reasonable chance. Take stock of where you are in your life and the experience and mindset you are going to bring to this endeavor. Do you have what it takes to win in a game where 90% of the competitors fail? If you are having doubts as you read this, it is probably a good idea to hold off or maybe find a way to explore your idea on a smaller scale. Entrepreneurship requires an all-in approach, or you will be doomed to fail. If you are already far into your startup journey and this post is causing you to have doubts, it’s time to make the hard decision on whether you can make it work or need to shut it down.
As you have evaluated your skill set against the success metrics, you likely found some areas where you are deficient. That is totally fine. You need to figure out how to fill the holes. Maybe you have a tough time with rejection or struggle to make decisions with limited info. Maybe you are prone to self-doubt at times or have a lower appetite for risk. As long as you have some of these areas on lock, you can still make this work. The easiest way to get support for your weaknesses is usually by identifying a co-founder who is good where you are not. In love they say opposites attract, and it is the same thing with co-founders. You want a partner that is going to bring a complimentary skillset, not an overlapping one. This goes for job skills and also for mindset. As long as the two of you have the same mission and goals, a co-founder is your best chance to bring the necessary skills to your business.
Getting the right co-founder does not mean you just accept your own weaknesses and ignore them. You should still work to try and improve yourself to be a more complete startup leader. Maybe you can read management books or listening to podcasts to help with this development. Maybe you want to find a mentor or advisor who can help you improve, or you might want to consider hiring a business coach to work with you on these areas. Put the work in and push yourself to get better, it will help improve your chance of success with your startup.
Thanks for reading today's post, I hope this helped you think about ways to bolster your weak areas to be the best leader possible.
Weekly Resources for Founders
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🚀 Apply to pitch at Venture Atlanta, the largest conference in SE here
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