^{Photo by Bobby Johnson}

Something that I’ve always found very interesting about being an entrepreneur is how it seems to bend so many rules that we’ve come to know and live by as a society. One of my favourites is the “Jack of all trades, master of none” paradox. Ironically, an entrepreneur NEEDS to be a jack of all trades. To give you an example, in my current job I am a salesman, a project manager, a human resources officer, a debt collector - I assist the accounts department with budgetary control, I head up research and development meetings, I assist the programmers with minimal user interface development tasks and I take on small graphic design jobs. Need I continue?

^{Photo by Andrew Neel}

The trick is not to get sucked into these tasks too much. You simply need to know what’s going on there and then hand it over to the experts that have been trained to handle that role within the company. If you’re a perfectionist that would rather do everything yourself you’re going to have a hard time. You should work on letting go. Touch the surface, make sure it’s being managed well and pass it on while moving onto the next department and so on so forth.

The other rule breaker is going into debt. You have most likely been told that you should avoid debt at all cost. That is true and it is good advice, but an entrepreneur should know how to leverage debt to make more money from it.

^{Photo by Nathan Shipps}

There are many rules that an entrepreneur must bend in order to be successful, but it doesn’t mean that you should not be disciplined. It takes a lot of discipline to manage the risk of bending the rules. It’s not easy to go into debt and then manage to get yourself out of it with a profit. That is why most people would rather avoid it in the first place. Entrepreneurs, however, have to operate outside of their comfort zones as a rule of thumb. It’s important not to get stuck in comfort zones, because you will lose the ability to manage the stormy waters that you will inevitably have to get yourself into to push forward.

There is one thing that I believe an entrepreneur should master and that is to know how to work with people.

Know how to work with people

^{Photo by rawpixel.com}

Study every individual in your company. Know their likes and dislikes. Know what motivates them and what demotivates them. What do they excel at naturally and where do they need assistance. Play each person to their strength and form collaborations where people complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Obviously this is a lot easier in smaller companies, but it does not mean that you can’t accomplish this in a massive organisation. The only difference being that you will concentrate on your management team in the same manner and the effect will trickle all the way down to the interns.

Personally I love getting very involved with the interns. It’s good to keep your eye on new talent and work on those that show great potential. After all, they are the future on the company.

Be a master delegator

^{Photo by Jonathan Velasquez}

As I mentioned earlier, don’t get stuck in doing the job, rather pass it on. The best entrepreneurs work ON their business, not IN their business. Having said that, I like to pick out the tasks that I like doing. It’s a cool perk in my opinion. I’d go around checking on all the departments, making sure everything is running smoothly and engaging in problem solving where necessary. Once I’ve concluded this I’ll work on a few things that I enjoy doing. For me it’s graphic design jobs, it’s a passion of mine. Don’t let go of the little things that make you happy!

Be a socialite (when you need to be)

^{Photo by Drew Farwell}

Full disclosure - I am not a socialite. I still entertain my clients nonetheless, because I know that you simply have to and it doesn’t end with clients either. The same goes for employees, suppliers and even your competitors at times. It’s something that I do enjoy, but at times feel that I can do without.

If you are a socialite by nature then that’s great! If you are somewhat of an introvert I’d implore you to work on making yourself feel comfortable in crowds, entertaining people and so forth. We’re not all cut out for this and if you really cannot bear to go through with it then you should at least make sure you partner up with someone in business that can be the socialite and leave you to be the one concentrating more on day-to-day affairs back at the office.

I have not really touched much on business partnerships, but I’ll do so in a separate post as there is so much to get into to.

Have strict protocols and don’t falter

^{Photo by Mark Duffel}

Talking about entertaining your clients brings me to this very important point. It’s easy to become friends with your clients/suppliers/employees which is fine. Some people will say that you need to avoid that at all cost as it will make things problematic, but that’s not the problem. The problem is if you start sliding on your protocols just because you are being so friendly. You have to be able to be a good friend, but also not stray from your own rules.

For example, the friendly client might say “please let me pay a little later” and you’d be inclined to say that it’s fine, wanting to uphold this good friendship you’ve established. I want to challenge you to be both friendly and strict at the same time. If that offends the client to a point where the friendship wavers then the friendship was not worth it from the start.

Don’t get me wrong, you need to know when to be lenient, that is a strategy on its own, but try not to get yourself into a situation where this person eventually takes way too much advantage of you and you only have yourself to blame. It’s a terrible situation to be in and it can derail a good business relationship way more dramatically than simply being a little stricter from the beginning. The problem is when you start begrudging this friendship because it feels like a ploy to take advantage of you. You might end up acting emotionally, taking much harsher actions to defend yourself and the sad truth is you let it happen.

Above all else, BE A LEADER

^{Photo by Yoann Boyer}

Everything that I’ve touched on in this five part series boils down to this. In fact, you can actually sum it all up into this one point. It all has to do with being a leader.

Being the one with the game plan for everyone to follow, but not letting it get to your head to a point where you are driven by ego. Remember to respect everyone around you. From your clients to your suppliers and your employees. Take ownership of what’s going on around you. Be brave, but not reckless and stick to your goals. Steer your ship like a true leader whilst looking after your crew, knowing that they are the real treasures on board the boat.

Stay calm and positive at all times and roll with the punches, waking up each morning stronger than the one before, no matter what blows you were dealt the previous day.

It’s all easier said than done, but it’s nowhere near impossible. My motto is: “there are no problems, only solutions”.

I hope this series has inspired you

^{An old photo of me at work with a few members of the team (I’m the one sipping my coffee)}

If you enjoyed this post, but have not read the previous posts to the 5 part series then follow these links:

Part 1 of 5
Part 2 of 5
Part 3 of 5
Part 4 of 5

Take care. Sincerely, @BegToDiffer