(This is number nine in my list of top 10 startup mistakes. I started yesterday with number 10, and will going from these less significant issues all the way to number 1, the most important mistakes to avoid .)
So many of us do it. I certainly did, in my early startup days. We think entrepreneurship is supposed to mean that we do everything ourselves. Make the product, make the sales, do the books, and take out the garbage.
Doing it all works sometimes, for some people, but it’s the exception to the rule. Most of us need to build a team to build a company.
Think about likes and dislikes, and strengths and weaknesses. Some people like numbers, some like people, some like machines, some like lines of code and keyboards. There’s a lot of like in a team that has different people with different skills. The admin person and the operations person and the (golden-tongued) sales person and the creative marketing person and the programmers don’t have to all be the same people. Usually they’re different people.
And don’t forget the professionals. While it’s smart to do your homework to minimize the legal bills by understanding the standard questions and the main tradeoffs, you still need an attorney you can trust. And while it’s smart to manage your bookkeeping yourself, or with an hourly bookkeeper, most of are going to need a CPA to manage taxes.
Doing it yourself isn’t always the best way. Sometimes you need to develop a team.
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
