Top 3 Challenges for the Entrepreneur

The library is bulging with books to advise Entrepreneurs on just about every subject. Thanks to the Internet, now it's merely a click away!! The whole world is a critic and thanks to keyboards, everyone is an expert!

Every 45 seconds a new business is started in the US. Every 24 minutes someone becomes a millionaire. But what happens between the 45 second start and being the millionaire we all dream about?

If I had to list the three top challenges for Entrepreneurs, I'd be going on forever, to the 10th power! Let me strive to narrow down to three:

Choosing the right people. When I asked for capital or went to market, the first question I have always been asked was, “Who is your management team?” Investors may want to see frilly paperwork but you want the right people, period. That makes or breaks you and is, without a doubt, the biggest hurdle we all have.

Leadership skills. Developing the leadership skills, creative capabilities and sense of responsibility in your “people.”

Delegate. Trying not to do it all yourself! If it is something you are good at and you love then by all means do it! But USE your people. Delegate and ask for appropriate follow-up reporting. Ultimately you will develop your people to where you delegate something and they run with it. That is the highest level of delegation and one which you and your team should strive for daily.

Books abound on “People Skills” and “Management Skills,” and other esoteric titles that involve some interaction with “your people.” Seminars are on every corner to teach and coach, so there must be something about “People” that strikes home, or a nerve.

Some folks say, “It's not personal, it's business.” Ever done business with a corporation? Last time I checked the corporation that signed the contract was a pen that belonged to a “people-hand.” No matter how we cut it, people matter. How we choose people; how we treat people and how we genuinely care for people will put us a cut above or cause us to wallow with the minnows.