Reflecting on my entrepreneurial journey thus far, I can’t help but think about how important the self-awareness to choose long-term gratification over instant gratification has been to how far I have come and how far I will go in the future. With that being said, I would like to go through how this choice, within the three most important factors of a business, can make or break you.
As Marcus Lemonis says, a business’s success, or death, comes down to three factors: people, product, and process. Each one takes a huge upfront investment of time, money, or both, but without all three, you can expect a short and stressful existence. I love how Marcus Lemonis breaks it down to such simple terms, but what isn’t simple is excelling in all three.
People
We have all heard that we should worry about getting the right people first, and then get them into the right role. Essentially, you have to have a team of A-players to win. As accurate as this is, it is very tough for a young startup company to accomplish this. Most of the time as a startup you hire when absolutely necessary, and you don’t have the budget to go after the very experienced A-players. On top of that, you’re hiring for a position that you only think you understand, but the position can’t truly be understood until it is an employee performing it and not a founder.
The solution is a delayed gratification versus instant gratification choice. Do you over extend yourself and go for the experienced A-player who can instantly contribute, or do you find a potential A-player and develop them, which takes a lot more work and time?
I choose delayed gratification and put in the time and hard work of first finding potential A-players and then developing them. The best part about it is that a true A-player will help create the position to match their strengths. Going this route has changed the business for the better and I’m glad I didn’t take the easy way out.