“Besides for bringing a child into the world and getting married, the most exhilarating life experience is the journey of taking your IDEA and making it a REALITY.” -Jared Yellin
I have the deepest level of respect for people who go ALL-IN on their idea and then muscle their way to make it a reality, but here’s what I have found since I have gone on this journey by myself and with others many times...
Most don’t make it…
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but MOST ideas, MOST potential, MOST impact, MOST everything that the world wants and needs resides in the graveyard because MOST people don’t know how to take their IDEA and make it a REALITY.
It’s not that I have a sixth sense for this…
Nor was I born with more or less insight than you…
I have just failed enough to finally figure out the ingredients and just because you have the ingredients doesn’t mean you will be able to take your idea and make it a reality, but it does help.
For The Record - THIS IS WHY I LAUNCHED CILA LABS!
I am not sure if you know this, but I am the Founder of CILA LABS which is a technology incubator that partners with non-techy entrepreneurs to build their technical ideas at cost, and then we take an equity share in the company.
I was sick and tired of a few things which is why I said - MY CALLING RIGHT NOW IS CILA!
Sick and Tired #1: Development companies taking advantage of people who don’t know any better
Sick and Tired #2: Great tech products not seeing the light of day because of poor Go-To-Market strategies
Sick and Tired #3: Solutions plateauing prematurely by missing the opportunity to integrate your product or service as a utility
Once again, just because I have done it once (or a few times) does not guarantee that the next time will be a success, but it does increase the odds and I am driven in life to create an even playing field where people have close to the same chances for success and impact, leaving the only variables as their commitment, drive, and ability to iterate in real-time when necessary.
In addition, the 6 Things I am about to share have dozens of distinctions within each, so please don’t get discouraged if you follow this path verbatim and your idea is still not where you want it to be. One fundamental reason why most ideas don’t make it (besides not following the 6 Things I am about to share), is that the idea is just not meant to be a reality. It’s critical to objectively complete these steps and try your hardest to remove yourself from the equation on a regular basis to ensure that the idea is worthy, it solves a big enough problem, and you can truly justify the energy and resources needed to make it real. From my point of view, it’s better to throw an idea away VERY quickly versus trying to force it and in the end wasting precious time, money, and emotion into something that was not truly viable.
At CILA we have a fail fast methodology that we apply to all ideas which is objectively measured in the following way…
0-90 Days: Minimal Viable Product
91-150 Days: Data Gathering And Monetization
151-180 Days: Cash Flow Covers Expenses OR Outside Investment Is Justified
If within 6-months, we can’t have the idea fund itself OR generate enough interest from the investment community, we MUST iterate or eliminate.
I know - this sounds super harsh and you are probably thinking that emotionally it might be challenging to abandon or change an idea within 6-months, but what I can assure you is that it's far more difficult being FORCED to abandon or change an idea in 6 years. The longer you try and hold on tightly OR try and fit a square peg in a round hole, the more difficult it becomes emotionally, financially, and even physically as the PAIN associated with realizing that 6-years has been wasted is FAR more severe than 6-months.
YES, like anything this is a discipline and it’s also the reason why entrepreneurship is not for everyone, which I will cover in future articles, and the only reason I am being this direct is because entrepreneurship MUST create more freedom for you than pain otherwise I promise it’s not worth it. This is why I try and let people know the cold, hard truth so that you can assess if this path is right for you and if/when it is, then follow these steps…
The 6 Things...
Thing #1: Do YOU have what it takes?
The journey of taking an idea and making it real is absolutely NOT for the faint of heart. There will be limitless sleepless nights, challenges that feel paralyzing, frustrating in a way words could never describe, and even painful at points as you become soooo emotionally invested, but it feels like there is no progress. MOST people seek pleasure and avoid pain and I hate to say this, but making an idea REAL, is riddled with more pain than pleasure until the pleasure officially kicks in.
I am not sharing this to dissuade anyone from trying, but I don’t want you to think that making your idea REAL will be filled with sunshine and rainbows when in reality it looks more like a thunderstorm with an occasional hurricane and even a tornado.
But if you want it badly enough, you can do it because please realize - EVERYTHING we use on a day by day basis has been man or woman made. From the utilities we use, food we eat, technology that makes our lives easier, clothing we wear, etc. EVERYTHING has been made by someone like you and me who were willing to take on any fear, pain, and discomfort and do it anyway.
I have found that the following are a few of the required distinctions for THING #1…
GRIT - People in your life are going to think you are absolutely crazy. If you have even one cheerleader, consider yourself lucky, because the naysayers begin to flock when someone starts the process of idea generation. This is when they start to make comments like…
“Do you really think people will pay for this?” “But, how will anyone find your idea?”
“What if this happens or this or this or this or this…?”
These are what I call - Questions Of The Ordinary Mind - and I am not saying this from a place of arrogance, but rather to help you recognize when it’s happening. You DO NOT need to answer these questions and instead feel free to use this statement…
“I appreciate your concern, but I got this…”
But here’s one thing you must realize…
If you get caught up with these questions, you won’t make it. There is no chance. So either, use my statement or stop before you start because you will need every ounce of your GRIT MUSCLES when your naysayers, disguised as family, friends, colleagues, etc. show up because I promise you they will.
EMBRACE YOUR FEAR - I have worked with a handful of entrepreneurs who had absolutely no fear and two things happened…
1 - I ended up having more fear than I usually do since they had none
2 - Their ideas never saw the light of day
You absolutely should experience fear and it should rear its head daily and even multiple times a day. I still wake up in fear, have lunch with fear, sit down for dinner with fear, and then close my eyes and see fear...DAILY! And this is the case for every impactful and successful entrepreneur I know, but what I also know is that the FEAR I experience and others like me experience does not paralyze us, instead it drives us to make calculated decisions and quickly.
The person with no fear is typically going to move too fast and as a result, will miss warning signs and opportunities.
The person who is slowed down by fear will have others surpass them and most likely will quit before they succeed.
But the person who embraces their fear is unstoppable because they use the fear as a mechanism to make decisions and as an access point for additional motivation and drive.
So, here’s my ask of you if you want your idea to become a reality bad enough…
Be afraid, but do it anyway.
VISION - The Bible says, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” My version of this is…
When you lack vision, your idea will perish.
It’s an absolute requirement that your idea includes a vision of making something better in a seismic way…
Something = your industry, your community, or even the world.
Ideas without a clear vision never make it because when all of the challenges surface, the only thing that will get you through is clarity around WHY you are doing this in the first place.
Your vision makes it worth the fight…
Your vision makes it worth the sleepless nights…
Your vision puts the noise of the naysayers on mute…
Your vision is your go-to second by second, minute by minute, and day by day, whenever it’s needed…
So, the question you must answer and I mean REALLY answer is…
WHY…
WHY even do this?
WHY does this matter?
WHY does your industry, community, or world need your idea?
And DIG into this response because when you lack vision, your idea will perish AND when you have a clear vision, your idea will thrive.
Thing #2: Is Your Idea Worthy?
This is often a REALLY challenging Thing for entrepreneurs because when you get romantic about your idea, it’s super difficult to objectively assess the worthiness of the idea.
Will the market accept it?
Will the market use it?
Will the market galvanize energy around it?
At the most basic level, these are the three questions to OBJECTIVELY and UNROMANTICALLY answer. But it goes even deeper than this as well…
At CILA, we refuse to enter a red ocean which means a market which is already overpopulated with similar ideas that have very very very slight innovations. It’s too expensive, it’s too labor-intensive, and it’s too arduous. On the other hand, the blue ocean is where we execute with rapid acceleration because this is a market that is untouched, yearning for a solution, and easier to access because there is limited noise.
As you are going through the process of making your idea REAL, start by looking at potential alternatives that already exist and see how much overlap you have with regards to the problem you are solving AND what additional aspects of the problem you are uniquely going to solve…
There is no right or wrong, but if your goal is to try to create as frictionless a path as possible from idea to reality, then I would recommend not selecting an idea that is only slightly different from something that already exists. But as you will soon learn in Thing 3 timing is everything and if your idea is too “ahead of its time,” it might also be challenging to objectively measure worthiness because your market is just not ready for you.
I get it - this is tough stuff - but for the right person, it’s invigorating and worth the tough to get to the stuff where you are able to create impact and wealth.
Okay, let’s get back to those three questions…
Will the market accept it?
There is a problem you are looking to solve…
You are creating a solution…
But will the market accept YOUR solution…
You are probably thinking - I don’t have a crystal ball, how could I know - which I understand - but if you go deeper than that objection - answer the question - will the market accept YOUR solution…?
Start by asking a few people (no one close to you btw) that is suffering with the problem…
Do some research on alternatives to solve the problem…
How large is the market with this problem…
YES, entrepreneurship does require some guesswork which for people that need certainty is never fun, but it is what it is and you will need to deploy the most educated guess as possible when it comes down to market acceptance.
Will the market use it?
One of my companies is called SYNDUIT which is the first marketing platform with content for your industry. We have 10,000’s of users across 30+ industries, and we got immediate market acceptance when we launched the latest version of our software in 2016, but we did NOT get market utilization. This led to people signing up and then quitting rather quickly. Luckily, we adapted (like overnight) and made some technological changes to the platform and we crossed the chasm to utilization and the rest is history.
BUT, utilization is EVERYTHING!
Let’s use Facebook as an example…
People sign up and accept the platform…
But never post images, videos, updates, etc.
The platform is rather useless - right?
Okay, I can feel you throwing the crystal ball line at me again and I am going to throw it right back at ya because it’s your job to lay the groundwork for utilization.
Literally…
Write up how your ideal user will use the platform
How often are they using it
What problems does your idea solve
How do they tell other people about the platform
Because the last thing you want to do is get market acceptance but not market utilization…
Utilization is what potentially leads to the next criteria which is galvanizing energy...
Will the market galvanize energy around it?
This is the true test…
Once you get acceptance…
Then you get utilization…
Can you get galvanized energy?
Galvanized energy looks like…
People talking about your idea non-stop…
People sharing your idea with the intention of getting other people to sign up…
People recognize that the more people using your idea the better it is for everyone…
Galvanized energy is the single greatest form of marketing you can ever wish for because it’s 3rd party endorsement based, the only cost is affiliate commission (which should be the greatest check you cut each month), and this is the #1 testament that your idea solves a problem because people feel the need to share it.
But it’s not easy…
Let’s use the SYNDUIT example for a moment…
We got acceptance...
We eventually got utilization…
But galvanized energy was tough because initially, our user did not want their “competition” using our solution because it gave them the edge…
Also, they did not see how having more people on the platform would serve everyone…
And, we had a suboptimal way to share our platform with the wrong compensation model…
Once we addressed these three challenges, we were able to step into what I call the FORCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP which is when you stay in your lane of building the solution and your market stays in their lane of ACCEPTANCE, UTILIZATION, and finally GALVANIZED energy.
Here’s what you should start to think about…
WHY would someone share…
HOW can someone share…
WHAT is the compensation…
My final thoughts on Thing #2 are the following…
WORTHY might be perceived as a subjective concept…
Like worthy for one person might not be worthy for someone else and vice versa, but I am going to ask you to objectify this as much as possible.
And the key is to become unromantic about the idea and think WAY more about your user than yourself, BUT (here’s where I’m going to throw you for a loop)...
My favorite ideas scratch the entrepreneur’s itch while also scratching the itch of 1,000’s or 1,000,000’s of other people as well.
So, if your idea solves your problem…AMAZING...now just assess how many other people have the same problem so that you can begin to objectify worthiness.
Thing #3: Is The Timing Right?
Yes, this is a cliche and it happens to also be a make or break for ideas…
TIMING IS EVERYTHING!
Do people already have the NEED?
OR
Are you creating the NEED for people?
You have an idea which represents a solution to a problem or problems but sometimes people don’t even know they have the problem.
This would mean that you are creating the NEED for your solution because people have yet to realize they even have this problem in the first place.
This is PERFECTLY fine, but it’s critical that you are at the very least aware of the fact because in Thing #4, knowing this fact is going to help you craft the perfect go-to-market strategy based on where your market is right now when it comes to the NEED you are solving...
Just so you know, I have seen a TON of amazing ideas flop only because the timing was off…
Being too early is a real thing…
Being too late is a real thing…
And being right on time is everything…
BUT...just because you are too early or too late does not mean you should hold back.
It’s more about being aware of where you fall on this continuum so you can plan accordingly…
TOO EARLY
If your idea is too early, this means you need to educate extensively on the problem that exists because the odds are...your market is blind to this need.
There are many ways to do this which we will discuss in Thing #4, but the key is consistent and neverending education around the problem and why you are the solution.
And TOO EARLY is not a bad thing - it very well could be an AMAZING opportunity, but not knowing you are TOO EARLY is a liability and could lead to your idea never becoming real or at the very least falling short of its potential.
The key is just knowing if you are “TOO EARLY” so that you can come to the launch party prepared with a plan of execution.
TOO LATE
Now, let’s discuss the other extreme which is an idea that could be perceived as TOO LATE.
Although I am REALLY not a fan of red ocean innovation because it becomes a bloodbath of slight iterations versus uniqueness and novelty, one of the most important muscles you need to exercise daily is self-awareness.
So, if you are on a mission to build a better mousetrap for your industry, community, or even the world because you believe that your slight iteration will make all the difference, then I would define this as TOO LATE, but that is also your greatest access point and here’s why…
People ALREADY know there is a pain that is being solved by a different solution other than you so your only responsibility now is to share what makes you BETTER and if what makes you better represents a sore spot for the person you are looking to help - then you will WIN!
TOO LATE is awesome and it’s also TOO LATE - but what really matters is that you know this from the start so that you can prepare a plan of execution that gets you what you want.
RIGHT ON TIME
In my opinion, RIGHT ON TIME is the greatest place to be because as you will see in Thing #4, this is the most frictionless path for scale.
Right On Time means that your market is yearning to find a solution and one does not currently exist so when you launch - they come sprinting!
I believe that the greatest time in our history to date for RIGHT ON TIME ideas is right now…
COVID-19 has created an undefined NEW NORM…
People are living with more uncertainty than ever before…
Inefficiencies are being exposed rapidly…
This is the single greatest environment for innovation, but the cousin of innovation is EXECUTION and without EXECUTION there is no innovation.
So RIGHT ON TIME ideas means you must take action RIGHT ON TIME because otherwise someone else will grab your opportunity and accelerate in a way where it becomes expensive to catch up.
Try not to be one of those people who say…
“Oh, I thought of UBER before UBER or I had the idea for FACEBOOK before FACEBOOK or I always knew that subscription boxes would get big…”
Instead, EXECUTE when the idea arises and commit to a 30-day game plan to bring your idea to life.
The question you need to answer for Thing #3 is…
TOO EARLY
TOO LATE
OR RIGHT ON TIME?
There is no universal good, better, or best so the key is for you to gain enough self-awareness to define your good, better, and best. Knowledge and introspection are powerful when it comes to bringing your idea into existence.
Thing #4: What Is Your Go-To Market Strategy?
The #1 thing that consistently shocks me is when I speak with an entrepreneur who has already built a version of their MVP (minimum viable product) and they have literally ZERO go-to-market strategy.
Like - it has never entered their mind...EVER!
And I always ask them this question…
“How will your IDEAL client, customer, or patient find you?”
And they look at me like I am speaking alien talk because there has literally not been even one ounce of thought that has been invested into this critical question…
I would go so far as to say that this THING is more important than your product or service.
Think about it like this…
You probably invested $1,000’s and 1,000’s of hours to get to a place where you have a product/service to sell and now you have almost no money, and you are probably somewhat emotionally and physically drained by the process so the thought of first finding or getting money and thinking about go-to market is the last thing you could imagine doing…
As a result, your MVP secures a spot in the illustrious graveyard of ideas which is the home for ideas that never really see the light of day.
GO-TO-MARKET is EVERYTHING which is why at CILA LABS we will automatically say NO to an entrepreneur partnering with us if we are unclear on how to reach the market - even if the idea and person ROCK!
And there are many schools of thought for go-to-market but what I gravitate towards is BLUE OCEAN strategies.
Blue Ocean Strategies are the things that other people don’t even think to do…
It’s not even that they won’t do them - they don’t even think about them because their mind prevents them from going down that path because they seem so outrageous.
For me, every company I participate in has a go-to-market strategy involving strategic partnerships with people or companies that have a mission to find a solution that our product or service is now able to solve.
For example…
My wife is the Founder of EPIC PLAY 365 which is a mobile application that delivers DAILY activities for parents to do with their children to enhance and optimize their connectivity time. We intentionally interviewed a handful of marketing consultants to see what ideas they had for go-to-market and literally 100% of them said the exact same thing…
Social media ads
Pinterest
Instagram
Facebook
Blogs
Podcasts
YouTube
And guess what - I 100% agree with all of these, but these are NOT go-to-market.
Go-To-Market as I define it is the following…
What can I do to get to cash flow positive the fastest without having to spend a TON of money?
So this is what I deployed…
Zoom sessions with various VERY LARGE associations who want to help parents
Meetings with the board of education in various states
Collaboration with a TV celebrity that is on a similar mission as my wife
Webinars with industry leaders who want to solve the problem that EPIC PLAY 365 solves
And this list goes on and on and on….
Each of these represents a BLUE OCEAN…
Each of these represents a WIN-WIN-WIN…
Each of these is FREE…
Each of these are literally untouched and no one is even thinking about how to access them…
AND…
We are doing most of the other tactics that the marketing consultants shared, but they are NOT our go-to-market - those are just our marketing.
Remember...GO-TO-MARKET is defined as…
Cash Flow Positive Quickly Without Spending A Ton (Or Any) Money!
And whether you are TOO EARLY, TOO LATE, or RIGHT ON TIME - the strategy is the strategy…
WIN - WIN relationships are the name of the game and by far the most effective mechanism when it comes to go-to-market and this is NOT theoretical…
Every industry I launched SYNDUIT into was predicated on relevant relationship capital.
Every CILA LABS portfolio company that has launched and will launch based on relevant relationship capital.
Every company I advise or coach will accelerate because of relevant relationship capital.
I published an article called, How to Market With No Money, which goes into great detail on how I go-to-market, but I would like you to focus on this one GO-TO-MARKET STEP…
Step One: Develop A Daily Ritual Of 15-Minutes Of Mining!
I am a big advocate for DOING what I tell people to do versus just telling you what to do, so this is literally the exact strategy I deploy instead of battling in the red ocean of buying traffic and driving leads to my website…
I mine my relationships for 15 minutes EVERY DAY and connect with ONE new person with GENUINE interest to see what they are up to…
My goal is to find out the following (via a call or Zoom)...
1 - What have you been up to since we spoke last? 2 - What is your main focus right now?
3 - What is your vision for the next 6-12 months?
4 - What is working really well for you?
5 - What is an opportunity for growth?
While asking these questions, I listen carefully to find out what problem this person needs solved and then I either solve it or connect this person with someone who can solve it.
It’s that simple!
Step Two: Research Your “Be-All-End-Alls”
Please notice that I pluralized ALL because there should never be only a BE-ALL-END-ALL, but rather many and begin to assemble your list of people you don’t know that you want to know because of ______________________________ and fill in this blank with…
1 - Why do you want to know them?
2 - Why should they want to know you?
And as you assemble this list - get creative - and find their contact information either through someone you already know, who also knows someone on your BE-ALL-END-ALLS list, OR just get scrappy…
Guess at their email
Use RocketReach which integrates into Linkedin
DM creatively and authentically
Record a 2-3 minute engaging video explaining your WIN-WIN
Do whatever it takes!
Step Three: Boldly And Consistently Reach Out To Your Mined Relationships And Your Be-All-End-Alls
Your goal with your go-to-market strategy is to have as many people excited about what you are bringing to the market (or have brought to the market) as possible which means…
COMMUNICATE FOREVER!
Before
During
And After
Your product is ready!
You should make it a mission to build your Go-To-Market Network and add to it daily…
For me, I make it a mission to do the following…
Connect with one person I know who I thought about 3x in the past 30 days and did not speak within 30+ days EACH DAY!
Connect with one person on my Be-All-End-Alls list EACH DAY!
And by doing this, I have a pipeline of relevant relationship capital that allows me to go-to-market without relying on doing what everyone else is already doing.
And and…
Make each person see the WIN-WIN-WIN…
What is their WIN?
What is the WIN of the people who will buy whatever you are selling?
What is your WIN?
People LOVE to participate in the WIN Trilogy so don’t make them guess - come out and tell them - and do this EVERY DAY if your goal is to achieve Go-To-Market success…
Cash Flow Positive Quickly Without Spending A Ton (Or Any) Money!
And just to reiterate…
The WIN-WIN-WIN relevant relationship capital strategy works whether you are TOO EARLY, TOO LATE, or RIGHT ON TIME but it does require you to face any limiting beliefs of, “People might not be interested in what I am doing,” head-on so commit to relationship capital and never look back!
Thing #5: Can You Lead And Build A Team?
No one has ever accomplished anything of seismic contribution on their own which is often something overlooked by entrepreneurs who believe the following…
1 - No one can do what I can do.
2 - I must be the center of attention.
3 - If I give power to others they will take advantage of it.
4 - Anything else that shows up when you are attempting to build a team.
Ego is the death of a great idea because the moment that the idea becomes about YOU, is the moment when people will disengage from what you are attempting to build.
The number of ideas that don’t make it or at the very least plateau prematurely because the originator or founder of the idea can’t get out of their own way is disturbing.
I was once part of a company with a few co-founders and the idea was exceptional, but the ability for one of the co-founders to check their ego at the front door was not present. As a result, there was no room for a team to contribute in a meaningful way and the idea fell short of what it could have become.
But here’s reality…
There is no more important skill set than LEADERSHIP if you have an idea that you are yearning to make real.
But LEADERS are not born - they are MADE and they are made by the following…
Walk your talk
Admit when you are wrong
Share a clear vision
Empower people to step into their greatness
Feel how people feel
Never expect people to do something you would not do
Be congruent
Become obsolete
The last point is my secret weapon…
I personally have ZERO desire to ever be the face of anything other than myself…
I never want credit when one of my companies succeeds…
And I don’t want anyone to feel like they are working for me, rather WITH ME!
Therefore, when I launch a company, I create what I call a PLAN OF BECOMING OBSOLETE so that the company grows independently of my involvement.
This means…
Hiring the right people
Creating the ideal motivators
Giving people latitude
Helping them access their ability to step into their flame
The single greatest day for me is when I am no longer needed at the company...PERIOD!
But this is also the day that either NEVER comes for most entrepreneurs OR the day they dread the most because their self-worth is attached to how much they are needed which becomes a chokehold on a company.
Let’s pivot for one moment and talk about your children, or your future children or someone you care about that has children…
Do you want your children (or their children) to NEED you to survive and thrive?
Or
Do you want to empower, educate, and enable them to THRIVE regardless of you?
The answer is obvious…
But why then do you feel the need to hold on so tightly to your business, company, or idea?
It’s a battle of self-worth and I will now share with you how I have been able to come to terms with my obsolescence as an entrepreneur…
Step 1: Write Your IDEAL Outcome For Your Business
Is your IDEAL to grind forever OR eventually to have FREEDOM because your idea is now a company that is helping other people experience whatever FREEDOM you are able to deliver?
When I say write your ideal, I mean get SPECIFIC!
For me, I want to be able to work from anywhere and NEVER need a computer…
I want to spend as much time adventuring with my family.
I want every business I touch to have recurring revenue so that money is never an issue.
I want to empower people to step into their greatness and to lead regardless of title…
And my list goes on and on and on…
I have gotten so insanely specific with my IDEAL that even things which have yet to be achieved feel like they are since my precision is so laser-sharp.
And this is an exercise that almost no one does which is why almost no one experiences their IDEAL.
So become part of the few that do and get hyper-focused on what you want from your business.
Step 2: What RIGHT NOW Is Preventing You From Your Ideal?
Once you are clear on your IDEAL, begin thinking about what is preventing you from getting there and I guarantee that it’s people!
You are the chokehold on your company and as a result, you are unable to build and lead a team.
People SOLVE scaling issues when you hire the right people, but the only way to attract the right people is to become the person they want to work with..NOT FOR!
And maybe there are other things preventing you from your ideal, but if you were to get to the source of those barriers, I guarantee it’s a people issue!
It ALWAYS is…
But document them out (them = barriers from your ideal) and then get to the source of why that point of friction exists.
Step 3: What Type Of Skills Would Someone(s) Need To Fill The Gaps?
Don’t just answer this question…
Think for a minute…
If you were FORCED to turn your business or idea or company over to ONE PERSON…
What SKILLS and VALUES and CODE would they need to possess?
And since it might be hard to find that one person…
After you compose your list of non-negotiables, consider spreading them out over 3-5 key players for your team.
And your goal is to have a VERY well-rounded team that does not NEED you, but instead, WANTS you for your vision, leadership, and contribution.
Becoming aware of what you want from your team is a MASSIVE accelerator.
Step 4: Become Process Driven
The reason I am able to step away from companies I launch is because I help create every process that matters…
New feature process
Hiring process
Compensation process
Sales process
Marketing process
Firing process
Etc.
I am involved to SET THE PROCESS, but never to facilitate it.
And because of this, I am able to trust people to step into the processes which has been enforced and I am 99.999% sure that the outcome will be what I desire since I helped create the process AND if it falls short, we fix the process and we recognize that nothing is ever truly terminal for a business.
But for people who are “controlling” (which is not bad for the record) setting the process is the only way you will ever be able to truly build and lead a team that makes you obsolete.
Step 5: Create A Compensation Plan That Triggers Your Desired Outcome
I define compensation uniquely because it does not only mean the money people are paid, but it also heavily includes their ability to make decisions, have responsibility, and experience ownership. One of the things I do with my companies is create a pool of capital based on profitability and then turn that pool over to key stakeholders to decide how they want to spend it…
-Bonus everyone
-Invest in something
-Allow it to accumulate
-Etc.
By allowing the team to decide how this pool of profit is distributed it has helped them flex their entrepreneurial muscle which is my goal for EVERY person I hire...now and forever.
I want them to feel like the business is theirs (and I also give them equity too) which is what I have found MOST people yearn for AND it allows me to become obsolete because now they are making decisions that are best for the company versus best for themselves and in the process, they almost always end up being best for both.
Step 6: Commit To Becoming Obsolete By ___ Date
Finally, set the date! I mean it...pick the date when you will be obsolete and don’t negotiate against this date.
I can’t express to you how critical it is that you recognize the true impact of your idea is predicated on your ability to build and lead a team. You will only take your idea so far, but with the right people, there are no limits.
Please don’t make your idea about you.
Please don’t let your ego get in the way.
Please don’t attach your self-worth to how much you are needed.
Declare your date now - and then - make it happen!
Become obsolete!
Please realize - you might disagree with everything I just shared in Thing #5 and I am 100% okay with this fact but what I shared is how I have done it and if you have yet to get what you want as an entrepreneur, I can guarantee it is a people issue.
Remember, leaders are not born...they are made!
Walk your talk
Admit when you are wrong
Share a clear vision
Empower people to step into their greatness
Feel how people feel
Never expect people to do something you would not do
Be congruent
Become obsolete
Thing #6: DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES FOR THE SECOND TIME?
I am going to be repetitive right now…
Do you have what it takes…?
The title of this article is very intentional…
The 6 Things That Will Either Hold You Back Or Propel You Forward As You Attempt To Make Your Idea A Reality
Without mastery of all six things, you will fall short which is why #1 and #6 are the same because if you only kinda want it after reading #1 and then you went through #2-#5 and you are still not 100% sure, then I encourage you to stop before you start as Thing #6 is asking you once again - how badly do you want it?
The journey from IDEA to REALITY is not for the faint of heart because it’s filled with the unknown, riddled with uncertainty, and consumed with challenge.
You will have financial barriers…
You will have innovation barriers…
Your personal life will be compromised…
Your health will be challenged…
You will wake up and go to sleep and experience doubt all throughout the day…
And yet…
If you are certain that you know what you want and you also have what it takes…
You will increase your odds of making your idea real…(but it’s still not guaranteed)
And if you are willing to hold on, pivot when needed, and face any fear and limiting belief immediately, then you will 100% make it...guaranteed!
Most people never start…
Many quit too early…
And very few accomplish what they set out to achieve…
My completely non-judgemental question for you as we close out this article is the following…
Which Are You…
Never Start - Quit Too Early - Accomplish Your Goal?
Live With Intention,
JY