Success Hurts More
Than Success

Success can hurt more than failure if you don't have the right people in place. I invest in experienced talent upfront - people who already know how to navigate the level I'm trying to reach - because those investments save time and prevent the team from breaking under the pressure of growth.

Is Success Supposed to Be This Painful?

The hardest, most painful stretches in building my first company - nearly 10 years of barely making payroll - were exactly what made the success possible. That struggle built resilience and taught me what works. But I don't say this to discourage anyone, because I learned the hard way that business success can hurt more than failure without the right team in place.

One of the biggest lessons from my early business success is that the hardest, most painful stretches are exactly what made the success possible.

My response is, "Oh, yeah!"

I remember struggling so hard building my first company.

Literally for almost 10 years I barely had enough money to pay payroll.

In fact, I remember sending a survey out to my entire team asking them if they wanted to switch from WEEKLY paychecks to EVERY OTHER week, or MONTHLY paychecks.

There were a couple of benefits for them... the further out they waited for their paycheck.

And I remember sitting there there with my fingers crossed, hoping everybody would say that they want to be paid monthly. That way I would have more time to scrape together the money to pay everybody.

Now, you might wonder why any employee would ever want to wait for their paycheck, but again we dangled a substantial amount of "bonuses" in front of them... not financial bonuses, but non-monetary bonuses that we offered anyone who chose EVERY-OTHER week or MONTHLY compared to those who chose weekly.

Atlas, the decision had to be a group decision, because it would cost me more to have our payroll company segment out a group for weekly, and a group from every other week, and a group for monthly.

I was so relieved when the majority of people chose EVERY OTHER WEEK, instead of weekly, because again that gave me more time to try to figure out a great promotion... Or a special that we could run in the company to bring in enough money to cover payroll.

What Happens When Success Hits Without the Right Team?

When success hits you, it's like getting hit in the face - there's no way to miss it. Suddenly there's massive expectations you need to fulfill as a leader. If your team isn't experienced enough to manage that transition, the whole organization strains under the weight of it. That's when success becomes scary instead of exciting.

But no matter how many sleepless nights, or 18 hour days I put in during those hard years...

...the moment success hits us (and what you'll find is that when success hits you, there's no way to miss it. It's like getting hit in the face).

And although that's what we all work for... and we all believe everything's going to be sunshine and rainbows and unicorns.

Success is scary as hell in the beginning. Because now there's this massive expectation that you need to fulfill as a leader of your company.

I don't say this to most start-ups, because I don't want to de-motivate them - but business success can hurt more than failure.

Unless, you have the right people on your team.

How Do You Invest in the Right Talent?

I buy talent used, not new. I find a way to afford a COO who already knows how to get me from where I am to the next level, or a marketing firm with access to my target market at scale, or an assistant who makes me more productive from day one. These are investments that save time, and sometimes the greatest return on money comes from properly choosing investments that save time.

In my companies - we buy our talent used, not new...

Meaning I'll find a way to afford:

• a COO who ALREADY knows how to SMOOTHLY get us from where we are to the next level.
• Or a marketing firm who ALREADY has access to my target market on a massive scale and can quickly put us in front of them in a big way.
• Or an assistant who ALREADY knows how to make me more productive from day one.

Because sometimes in business the greatest return on our money comes from properly choosing INVESTMENTS THAT SAVE US TIME.

So bringing on a team members who ALREADY has the experience, and the contacts, and the drive, AND who fits our culture - is always a great investment.

On the other hand - success can kill a company that hires the wrong people.

Because the WRONG people - whether they're wrong because they're not experienced enough, or because they're not driven, or because they're a poor culture fit - the wrong people ALWAYS kill growth.

So if you're growing right now and experiencing a level of business success, and you're in hiring mode... the number one thing you can do is TAKE YOUR TIME... and hire the person who comes with THE MOST VALUABLE EXPERIENCE... and who's eager to put EVERYTHING into the company and the team.