DO SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS ASK FOR HELP?
Andrew Carnegie famously suggested that his epitaph should read, “Here lies a man who was able to surround himself with men far cleverer than himself.” And that’s exactly what he did: Carnegie surrounded himself with an excellent team that helped him build and sell U.S. Carnegie Steel to JP Morgan’s U.S. Steel for a staggering $400 million in 1901.
The success formula lies in being able to recognise your own limitations as an entrepreneur, and being able to tap into the skills and knowledge of those around you for the required complimentary knowledge, skills and expertise.
Andrew Carnegie knew he could not “do it alone”.
“Good people are not just crucial to a business. They are the business!” Richard Branson believes that the real engine behind every business is people. He looks at businesses as nothing more than a group of people, and he considers people far and away the biggest assets of any business.
Like most Entrepreneurs you cannot always afford to employ all of the best people, so you have to get creative, when sourcing the right talent at the right time.
SO WHY DO ENTREPRENEURS NOT ASK FOR HELP
Reaching out for help, should be something we recognize and praise each other for.
Oftentimes, however, the biggest barrier that limits Entrepreneurs from getting help is the actual act of asking for it. So what is going on with Entrepreneurs not asking for help?
- We fail to recognise that the most common reason for not succeeding or moving forward fast enough, is ourselves.
- Our doubts lead us to question the help before we have even tried it
- Past failures in accepting help, become the limiting factor in accessing better help in future.
- It makes us feel uneasy because it is associated with surrendering control
- A possible fear is being perceived as needy.
- For some, we feel ashamed of not knowing
- We don’t want to come across as incapable, ineffective, or even incompetent – this is about our fear of other people’s perceptions of us.
- We are hardwired to want to be independent, even if we fail in the process
- Then there is the big one – In our minds. The stigma that asking for help is admitting to failure
Often, the biggest failure is that we do not know the difference between ‘good help’ and ‘bad help’, and so we default to ‘no help’, and then we wonder why others progress faster than we do.
Most entrepreneurs will at some time have been offered ‘help’ or ‘advice’ from family, friends and peers. This will often have been turned down or rejected due to the emotional connection, or perceived lack of expertise. “They just don’t get it.” “It’s not that simple”.
This then raises the question as to why not seek input from someone who is objective, independent, and does have business experience and insight.
Why you need to start asking for help
Reaching out for help or changing something in order to help your business is not a sign of weakness. It is not about failure either. It is not a negative of any kind.
No matter how humbling it may feel, seeking help is an act of courage. It speaks to your insight to recognize that there is a need. It demonstrates an understanding that it is not a matter of ‘not being able to handle it’. It is about creating and maintaining a business with a healthy balance so that you can do more of what’s important to you. How? By helping yourself and allowing others to help you.
7 THINGS TO START DOING DIFFERENTLY WHEN ASKING FOR HELP
- Change your Ask:
So here is a very simple idea: Mind set! Change the way that you define “asking for help”.
Instead of saying “Can you help me with…?” What about if you said:
- “I don’t have the time so I need extra resources to work on ….”
- “I am collecting input on …”
- “I would like to clarify my understanding of …
- “I would value some suggestions on improving a, b and c.”
- “I am looking to collaborate with someone to improve x, y, z.”
- “I am exploring different options and would like to see if “xyz” is makes sense.”
- “I could improve if I knew more about …”
- Seek help before it’s too late
Like many things in life, we do in fact see the early warning signs. You know when something is not working, or just lacking in your business. Little or no profits is one of those early warning signs. We choose whether to acknowledge or ignore.
The reality is that it is far easier to address and fix the small issues before they become big ones. With a different mind-set about ‘help’, ask for help, sooner rather than later.
- Think Investment and Value, rather than Cost
Many Business Owners will have been correctly advised to see Marketing not as an expense, but rather as an investment. You have to spend money to make money. It’s about your perspective. Consider that getting ‘help’ in your business is not an expense, it’s an investment. You have to invest in help now to get to a better business in the future.
When considering your challenges and the option of getting ‘help’, ask yourself: “What is the value to me and my business?”. “How will I benefit?”. It’s not only about the finances.
- Do think about what help you actually need
It will be very rare that good help, or quality advice will come for free, or even cheap. So, yes you must ask about what you will get for your money. Do not overlook the soft benefits like ‘clarity’ and ‘peace of mind’. Not everything is measured in monetary terms.
Look for the balance between short term and long term, and look for the balance between soft and hard benefits.
- Think Return on Investment.
Any Financial Planner will tell you that you need to invest with a medium term to long term plan in mind. That starts with at least 5 years to get a reasonable return on your investment. Short term changes and moves into and out of markets is high risk and is just speculation.
Think about this same perspective in asking for ‘help’. You want a return on your investment, but you need to start investing now for a reasonable return in the future. It is consistent long term investment and growth that really matters.
- Manage your expectations
There is often the expectation that for little or next to zero investment, you are going to get massive short term improvements and financial benefits from your business help. This sounds illogical as soon as one says it.
One of the alternatives suggests a small regular investment in smaller portions of help over a long period of time, looking for long term growth and rewards. This already seems to makes more sense. Another alternative is that if you want big results and very quickly, then the investment and the size of the change and help needs to be equally big.
Although your desire tells you that you want big results and quickly, are you and your business ready for that?
- Stay in Control
You are in control of how much help you ask for and how much help you receive. There are always multiple options on what type of help and support you can get. It is about the choices that you make.
Know what your budget allows for, and be prepared to start with a small investment.
Investing in business help is much like your personal budgeting. If you never start investing in change you will never get the benefits. If you don’t have the money, find the money. Carve out a budget for investing in your business future.
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