Successful Business Leader Essantials

A successful business leader can bring success in any kind of business. So a successful business mostly depends on a good leader. As I am a businessman and also a business leader I think that some fundamental characteristics must be needed. Because a good leader is an exemplary character. As a successful leader I have some good qualities which help me to be a successful businessman. These are given below briefly- Educational knowledge: An educated person do the work properly but an uneducated person not.

Educational knowledge alps the people to choose the right thing. An educated person makes the product more different. So educational knowledge is an inevitable of any business. Technical knowledge: A leader who has the technical knowledge ability to do the work properly and perfectly. He or she can maintain his or her team member in the accurate way. Communicational skill: communication is most important element in any business. If the leader doesn’t communicate the team member properly a successful business never is possible.

Leader must be extrovert not be introvert. Fearlessness: True leaders are not afraid to take risks or make mistakes. True leaders make mistakes born from risk. Integrity: A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity. Honest dealing, prediction reactions, well controlled emotions and an absence of tantrums and harsh outburst are all signs of integrity. Motivational capabilities: In any successful business image is one of the most important elements. To create this image leader has the capability to motivate people in the company.

Creativity: Creativity is the ability to think differently. On the based on creativity one can focus one’s product and make it more different from the others. Tolerant: A true leader can maintain all kinds of situation. Various kinds of problems can be come even many times there are created doubt about the performance of the leader. In this situation only a tolerant leader maintains the situation. Magnanimity: Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successful is spread as widely as possible throughout the company.

Even a true leader takes the personal responsibility for failures. Confidence: Sometimes because of lack of confidence all effort becomes vain. In order to lead and set direction a leader needs to appear confident as a person and in the leadership role. A leader who conveys confidence towards the proposed objective inspires the best effort from team members. Fairness: Fairness means dealing with others consistently and Justly. A leader must be checked all the facts and hear everyone out before passing Judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence.

Honesty: It is said that ‘Honesty is the best policy. It is true that an honest person respected by everyone. So an honest leader can be made the business successful by his or her own virtue. Experience: Experience is one of the pre-condition of the successful business. If the leader is experience person then he or she tackles all kinds of the situation. In the time of worse situation by his experience he can control the situation. Engagement: great business leaders are able to get all members of their teams engaged.

They do this by offering them halogen, seeking their ideas and contributions and providing them with recognition for their contributions. Openness: Good leaders are able to suspend Judgment while listening to others ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers. From the above discussion it is clear that some fundamental characteristics or qualities whose decide the leader from others. In my life experience I realize that quality makes the position of the people.

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Core Areas of a Successful Business

He or she can Inspire others to work harder, take on asks thought to be Impossible, and the leader could also Inspire Ideas. The Ideas could come directly from a leader, or from those around him or her. A leader has complete clarity and vision. They also have a knack for overcoming obstacles and having others see and share their viewpoint. Another attribute that great leaders possess is the ability to show balance when handling various issues. They are able to balance ethic Justice with ethic core. Ethic Justice is defined by law and logic, as ethic core is defined by how it influences people on an emotional level.

There have been arioso examples of ethical violations or moral ambiguity in business involving companies such as ENRON and TACO. These companies were all about the perception of success. However, if someone were to Investigate into the numbers, he would see there were serious problems. Holding debt In dummy companies and offering excessive bonuses to executives are Just a few examples of these violations. Where was the oversight? Well, the people who were In charge hand their hands out like everyone else. These individuals seemed oblivious to the consequences of their weren’t made at lower management level.

Rather, they were being made at the executive level! Isn’t it the role of effective managers to prevent occurrences like this from happening? What is management’s position in these particular circumstances? Is there a specific procedure they should always follow? II. Processes of Management How do management and leadership differ from one another? It is best simplified by this quote from Peter Trucker, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things. ” The terms manager and leadership are commonly used to mean the same idea, although they serve different purposes.

Mr.. Trucker gives a glimpse of the differences within his quote. Management is defined as a process that is used within an organization to help accomplish goals. The overall process of management includes planning, organizing, leading, and utilizing individuals and resources available within the organization. Planning is all about strategy and positioning. Having a clear understanding of the company’s objectives will streamline the planning portion of the process. Being able to identify trends are critical in meeting the demands of a business. Read why a company’s management team should give serious consideration to bidding for a private-label

A well-developed plan will help diminish the chances of failure of an organization. The plan requires structure and a team to liver the plan. It is important that the structure be in place, and everyone has a clear understanding of their role. The concepts of organizational structures have in practiced for nearly one hundred years. In 1919, a French economic theoretician “Henry Payola” published a book titled Administration Industrially. It was one of the first publications that outlined the various aspects of a functioning business structure.

He spoke about how to best to divide the function of business: creating a unity of command, hierarchy of authority, division of labor, and putting in place clear channels of communication. Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 207) Another theory was developed by Max Weber. Max Weber wrote a book titled The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations. He shared many of the same theories as Henry Payola. However, Max Weber was of the belief that less educated workers carried out tasks better if they were guided closely and given strict rules by middle management to be performed. Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 208)

Today many of those theories are still practiced. Businesses have to develop strategies allowing them to be nimble. If a business is slow to react to the market demands, they could be left behind. This is a costly proposition for companies looking to expand. Organizations seem to be moving toward a decentralized authority. This empowers the managers and employees to make decisions based upon their market needs quickly. A faster response time translates into improved customer relations and builds brand loyalty.

This type of strategy is found in retail department store chains. On the other hand many fast food chains believe in the concept of centralized authority. All decisions on purchasing and promotion come from those in upper management. This allows companies such as McDonald’s to keep their product consistent. Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 210) It is unlikely that a drastic philosophical change within retail or fast food will take place anytime soon. There have been innovative changes within other market segments concerning team structuring and how to best respond to the demands of the consumer.

For example, if a company wants to introduce a new product and bring it put as bringing the best minds from all facets of the business and have them work on a specified project. This team is commonly known as a cross functional team. What is so unique about this team is that they are self-managed. They may also hare different managers during the task. The engineer may work closely with the team on the design of the product. However, when it is time to distribute and brand the product the marketing manager may take over. They also work together on a long term basis fostering new opportunities. Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 218)

Working in teams can be great at moving an organization forward and carrying out task delivered by management. Teams can also seize opportunity by having the ability to quickly respond to a changing market such as technology. The biggest advantage of working in a team would have to be communication. Working as a team has far more advantages compared to its disadvantages. Some of the drawbacks would be the team having or developing a disconnection from the corporation’s core values or a feeling that they are their own entity.

This occurs when areas are departmentally from other functions of the business. Sometimes, if a common goal is not reinforced, it can cause some employees to become disengaged. If you have ever been part of a team where one of the members is negative and disengaged it can become infectious. At a minimum it becomes a distraction and disruptive to the team and its progress. Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 212) At what point does leadership step in to take charge? What role, if any, does leadership play in business? Ill. Leadership Leadership is universal as the principles that define effective leadership are equitable worldwide.

This is because leadership is mainly founded on principles that revolve around human relations. It usually requires one to be selfless. Individuals in leadership should always prioritize the needs of all the people who are under his command before his personal needs or interests. There are several styles that have resulted in effective leadership. These styles depend on the demands and requirements of the individuals involved and the tasks facing the institution. However, these styles have also been forced to evolve with the changes brought along by the 21st century.

This section tackles the evolution of leadership taking into account various styles and use of varied examples in a bid to highlight and make the issue most comprehensible. Leadership styles revolve around three key points. The first includes the manner in which a leader gives guidelines or directions to his subordinates. Secondly, it is also determined by the method through which the deader implements his plans. Lastly, leadership style is also largely influenced by whether or not the leader motivates people to produce the desired results.

Leadership styles are usually categorized into three different and unique styles when referring to individual leaders. One of the leadership styles that have been around for ages is the authoritarian or autocratic type of leadership. In this case, the leader gives the employees orders on what they want to be executed and the execution manner. An authoritarian leader usually is strict on the regulations and policies governing the employees of the company. An example of an authoritarian leader is a traffic police officer giving directions to motorists (Gland, 2002).

According to Gland, a true leader is best characterized if he or she serves as a role model to others by promoting corporation between them. Moreover, one should also empower other decision making. Lastly, a leader should communicate effectively to his employees on both his values and those that govern the organization. Another form of leadership style is democratic or participative type of leadership. In this case, the individual in the leadership position includes other people in decision making. Despite this, the leader is the one to make the final decision on the matters at hand.

There is also a leadership style where the leader delegates the role of decision making to the employees while giving minimal or no guidance. This style is referred to as free-rein or delegating type of leadership. This style works well where the employees are competent, and the leader has confidence in them. Having any characteristics of these three leadership styles doesn’t mean you can’t enhance your role as a leader/ manager with vision, value, and ethics. How does following these important deadlines improve your role as a leader? Leaders that impact businesses and employees on a daily basis know what they value.

They also recognize the importance of utilizing their ethical behavior. The best leaders exhibit their values and ethics in their leadership style and actions. Defining your leadership ethics and values should be visible because you are living them in your actions every single day. A lack of trust can become a serious problem in many workplaces throughout the business world. If leaders never identified their values in these workplaces, the mistrust becomes understandable. If leaders have identified and shared their core values then living those values daily will create trust with everyone.

Workplace ethics take the same route when the organization’s leadership has a code of conduct and ethical expectation; they become an organization Joke if the leaders fail to live up to their published code of ethics. Leaders that exhibit ethical behavior powerfully influence the actions of others including the employees that will eventually make that leader successful. As a leader, choose the values and the ethics that are most important to you, the values and ethics you believe in and that define your character. Then live them visibly every day in the workplace.

Living your values is one of the most powerful tools available to you to help you lead and influence others. Just as in the business text of class; leaders must communicate a vision, establish their values, promote their corporate ethics, and embrace change, and stress accountability and responsibility among employees to become an effective leader in management. How could you improve your role as a leader/manager to become more effective? Managers are often seen as administrators and not leaders, depending on how we define leadership.

The meaning of leadership is defined as promoting new direction either in people or organizations. It has nothing to do with being in a position of authority over others. What do we define as management? This is having responsibility for people and other resources with the goal of getting work done as efficiently and effectively as possible. The goal of the manager is to execute the directions promoted by the leader. Managers do not differ from leaders based on their personalities or styles as leaders are not Just more lively, charismatic or larger than life managers.

Any manager can lead by promoting new directions. Managers can be as inspiring as leaders even when they are wearing their managerial hat; hence, aiming to get work done efficiently, they try to inspire employees to improve performance rather than move them to change direction as leaders do. Both leaders person can step into management, but the real question is how that individual is going to lead his people or team. Managers become successful only by understanding what it takes to be an effective leader to promote change with accountability.

An individual can manage, but the true success of a powerful leader is the reflection of performance among its subordinates. An imposing leader knows how to manage as well as how to promote change effectively and positively from leading by example. Becoming an effective leader will eventually give an individual the success to reach his/her employees through positive influence and by achieving the high expectations handed down by the company objective. It is up to the individual leader on how he wants to manage his people in order to receive the best end-results.

Taking all of these aspects into consideration, does someone in a leadership position have an obligation to motivate his or her employees, or is it up to he employee to realize his or her motivation? ‘V. Employee Motivation Many corporations today explore various strategies on how to improve production and motivate their staff to give one hundred percent toward the company’s goals. The most successful companies and organizations always seem to have extraordinarily strong leadership. There are many ways in which strong leadership can motivate the employees in an organization.

Strong leadership can be used to energize a team in the workplace. A formidable leader should create a positive correlation between the workers and their employer. Moreover, the leader should be able to pool energy from each worker so as to improve performance and productivity as a team. Strong leaders have enormous reserves of spiritual, emotional and physical energy. The leader should be able to create a time for reflection of performance and also interpersonal evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of every employee.

This is because the investment in employees helps to improve performance and also improve motivation (Adair, 1998). Powerful leadership in the workplace can help to motivate the employees through effective communication. Communication helps to influence employees to improve their performance. In addition, delegation of duties within an organization is carried through communication, and it is essential for employees to communicate their concerns in the workplace to avoid inconvenience.

An influential leader is a person who listens to the grievances of the subordinates and provides possible solutions to improve the level of performance. Moreover, a prominent leader should also be empowered to solve problems and to suggest solutions for the problems affecting the employees in the workplace. This means the information from very employee should be handled with the respect it deserves, including a concentrated effort placed on improving interpersonal relations with their employees. This reduces conflicts and creates a platform for employees to act as a team (Advance, 2012).

One valuable method to motivate employees in the workplace is to mentor them and encourage them to grow and work as a team. This improves their partnerships and helps the organization to benefit in the long run. The fundamentals of motivation should be based on influencing the employees and helping them to achieve success. In essence, the leader should limit the regulations and set rules. Any change of an objective or rule should be communicated effectively to avoid frustrations which may be created by the confusion. It should also be reduced rules and regulations.

The rules should be developed in such a manner that they enhance integration and cohesion within the workplace (Numeric, 2009). Awarding the employees who have performed well in an organization is one of the ways which motivates them and improves their capability. The top leadership should ensure that there is the creation of incentive programs in which the best performing employees are awarded according to their performance in the workplace. The main purpose for creation of incentive programs is to show the employees that the organization values and cares about them.

In addition, through the rewarding of performance employees are encouraged to continue to seek improvement in their job. The production of employees is prone to increase after they have been motivated using incentive programs Messier, 1995). Incentive programs motivate performance through minimization of results. Outstanding performance over a period of time should be rewarded through promotion or through the provision of incentives. The incentives should be based on hard work and should vary from one employee to the other.

This helps to improve competition and also to help motivate the weaker employees to increase their performance within the organization. The leadership has the obligation to create a program in which the top performers are rewarded according to their performance in the work place. Alternatively, the salaries and remuneration of the top performing employees should be increased to encourage them to work towards achievement of personal goals and objectives (Numeric, 2009). Performance based on consistent meeting of the objectives should also be rewarded.

Some form of compensation helps to encourage employees to invest their personal best into an organization. Employers who reward their subordinates on performance based on consistency have increased rates in meeting of personal goals and objectives. Rewarding the employees shows them that they are important, and increases their level of motivation, consequently leading to excellent performance. This also shows employees that they are highly valued and are significant assets to management. Furthermore, rewarding employees helps to retain them and increase their morale in the workplace.

Employees should also receive unexpected rewards to express appreciation for all of their diligence on the Job. This unanticipated compensation explicitly illustrates their importance in the organization (Messier, 1995). One of the proven ways of motivating employees is the reduction of turnover in the workplace. Reducing turnover creates cohesion and trust among the employees. Reduction of turnover also helps to maximize potential through reduction of the costs of retaining valuable employees. When the numbers of employees are at an optimum level, the rate of performance increases.

This means that hardworking and promising employees within an organization should be retained while the unproductive employees should be dismissed. Arguably, it is evident that employees who leave their employment have the reason of being unmotivated and unsatisfied. Good leadership would solve these problems while helping to improve performance in the long run. However, the individual who displays a sense of pride complimented with self-motivation is the most valued employee and a key contributor to the success f any organization. (Advance, 2012).

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Behavior Traits of Successful Businesses

Businesses are resource limited and must determine where and in what way to allocate resources to achieve business mission objectives. This translates to why it is so important for business to be creative and actively plan for innovation correctly.

Innovation is a change of direction and it alters investment policy so it is essential from the onset for the business planner to be clear about the current state of product “portfolio”. The planner must recognize how to balance the current products against possible policies for future development and their likely implications in terms of cash flow, market share, return on capital employed and other key components of company objectives.

A successful behavior trait taking hold for successful companies is to develop business models to assess a strategy. These models provide change models expanding on issues such as “what”, that provide a picture of the company now of analysis; and “which”, that suggest alternative action paths for the company to take. Both of these models provide information to build a more complete picture of events within the business and options for future development.

Managers should make use of these models and many don’t. Those that do are more likely to be successful and have the ability to minimize risk of failure. Business managers who do are far more likely to survive. For planners and non-planners there is not a single universal technique that can be applied in all situations.

Use of strategic planning models can be a very important behavior trait for successful companies. Companies that do not use strategic planning models usually don”t because the model does not offer what the customer wants. It may be inadequate because of its analysis of the relationship between company resources and markets. These result in advice about overall investment decisions rather than about the specifics of how to manage the alternatives in the market/business relationship can be shortsighted, since there are always alternatives in order to gain the maximum competitive advantage. Since change is so an important aspect of business continuity, many models don’t necessarily provide assiduous suggestions for what type of change should be considered.

An example of modeling one such model in use by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) subdivides their profit centers into four main subdivisions. This breakdown does help in planning for strategic investment matters but it does not assist the planner in identifying a single product development proposal to investigate further from a number of alternatives. The matrix system comprises the following:

  1. Stars, which are products generally with negative cash flow
  2. Question marks, which are products with generally negative cash flows but with low relative market share in growing markets
  3. Dogs, which are products unlikely to be generating substantial positive cash flows due to the fact that they are in slowly growing markets with low relative market shares
  4. Cash cows, that are products that generating cash which have high relative market shares and are established in slowly growing markets.

BCG model like the previous statement in the above paragraph does not define the product enough and does not create opportunities to explore alternatives in which to improve profitability or market share.

The growth concept is divided into five separate levels one being dominant, strong, favorable, tenable and weak and relates this to the stages of market development. The stages are embryonic, growing, mature, and aging, which produce a series of strategic guidelines for company development. The market growth concept provides valuable guidance about broad policies, replacing the concept of market attractiveness in the GE matrix with stages of market growth.

A PLC (product life cycle) are frameworks for planning. It suggests that specific changes in product policy should be followed after the initial product introduction. A major problem is that few products follow “typical” PLC curves. This implies that the organization evaluates the likely progress of each facet of the product”s performance over the ensuing time scale to identify particular areas where investment should be concentrated without a clear indication as to whether that product will follow the predicated path of the PLC.

There are several other types of commonly used models and analysis (Product viability, Market newness, technology position, opportunity cost risk, and the Ansoff matrix) that can be employed each having strengths and weaknesses and should be applied to achieve a specific outcome. By carefully defining the likely market attractiveness for innovation and the resource environment for innovation, management can identify the types of innovation that are appropriate for a particular business unit.

The key components of the market and resource environments are:

  1. Market attractiveness is degrees of synergy, market size, barriers to diffusion, the expected product life and the stage of technological development.
  2. Resource components are likely to be market position and personnel resource, which combine to yield a definition of the company core competence.

By establishing a weighting scheme the analyst can create a three-by-three grid of market attractiveness versus resource environment to provide a measure of the likely ability of the organization to carry out particular types of innovation and the expected profitability of the proposed innovation policy.

Personnel are the hearts of a continuing effective innovation policy. But, it is just as important that management and leaders are made aware of their unique roles and how crucial their behavior is upon the organization – ultimately the success of the company.

Managers must be able to stimulate conversation and innovation. Leaders must be clear on how paradigm shifts and leadership is interwoven.

Managers must be able to demonstrate paradigm pliancy if they are going to expect others to practice it. The more active managers can be in the search for new paradigms, the more likely those managers will be to have people work with them. An example made in the paradigm text indicated that the piston engine was on its way out in the 1970’s because of the mandates on for a cleaner environment. Once the engine engineers stepped outside the old boundaries, they found that electronics could help to resolve the issue.

Managers must facilitate and encourage cross talk. More and more the answer to a particular problem will lie with someone else and if you don”t apply the cross communication, that idea won”t be brought to surface effectively.

It”s especially important that managers listen. Even when some ideas sound off the wall, you want people to approach with their ideas in an on-going fashion. On the other hand, the merger of these ideas though on their own may seem a bit far-fetched; when combined they offer leverage for the manager to generate great and unique solutions.

In the text, Paradigm, the author Joel Arthur Barker defines a leader, as a person one will follow to place one wouldn’t go by himself or herself. To be successful in the twenty-first century means that leaders will need to be competent on managing within a paradigm and leading between paradigms. One without the other will not work. Successful leaders tend to lead to new paradigms in a variety of ways.

Leaders need to be aware of the pattern of choices that occur during paradigm shifts. Typically three opportunities emerge:

  1. Keep the paradigm; change your customer
  2. Change your paradigm; keep your customer
  3. Change your paradigm; change your customer
  4. Warren Bennis set forth a list of characteristics of leaders in the May 1990 issue of training magazine.
  5. The manager administers; the leader innovates.
  6. The manager has a short-range view; the leader has a long-range perspective.
  7. The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
  8. The manager has his eye on the bottom line; the leader has his eye on the horizon.
  9. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it.

Roger Milliken, CEO of Milliken and Company, a privately held textile company in South Carolina demonstrated true leadership when he began his company drive to world-class status in the early 1980’s Though most industry experts predicted the demise of the U.S. textile industry, Milliken continued to pursue excellence. In 1990 Roger Milliken won the noted Malcolm Baldridge Award demonstrating excellence.

Employees operate at different levels, some are visionaries (don’t have people following them), some are leaders, some are managers, some are leaders and even a smaller percentage have all four roles – remarkable is a company that has an individual having all four characteristics.

The most important factor in sector creating innovation is the concentration on academic and theoretical concept development, which demands a specific organizational framework. They contrast with the rapid developmental demands of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and with the need for close contact with the market required by other types of innovation.

Therefore, three broad types of organizational patterns can be described as appropriate for components of the innovation matrix and it can be described as follows:

  1. Common room – appropriate for the development of sector creating innovations
  2. Rugby scrum – approaches are best for the management of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and those innovations that require a close and continuing contact with the marketplace for effective control
  3. Coffee shop – reformation, service, branding, design and packaging are most suited in this sector

Once a company has formulated an innovation policy it must evaluate whether to acquire the expertise from outside the organization (acquisition), to borrow it (licensing), to develop it with a partner with some specific expertise in this area (joint venture), or to concentrate on developing the knowledge internally. By studying how knowledge has been acquired and the problems associated with each route, it is then possible to come to some general conclusions about the best overall method for developing competitive advantage in the 1990’s and beyond.

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5 Things I’ve Learned by Co-Founding a Successful Business

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Some of the world’s most famous and successful companies, like Apple, were started by two or more co-founders. Others, like Disney, were started by just one person. Here, then, is the billion-dollar question: Is one choice better than the other?

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how I started Tailored Ink with , my business partner. We’re both writers, we both majored in English and we each have qualities the other lacks. On paper, it made perfect sense for me to approach him to be my partner. Fortunately for both of us, we hit it off and haven’t looked back.

Related: 

But, as with any long-term relationship, making things work takes a lot of practice and compromise. It takes a while to get used to someone else, and when you’re starting a business with a partner, you’re practically married.

So, here are five things I’ve learned co-founding a successful business with Dan:

1. You have an accountability partner.

When I was a student, I can honestly say, I didn’t enjoy teamwork or group projects. I was, and still am, an introvert. I focus best when I’m alone, and (as Susan Cain would put it). But ever since starting our company, I’ve changed my mind about teamwork. Dan and I are a great team, and we complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well. In fact, co-founding a company worked so well that I’m about to start two more companies with different co-founders.

Why am I so satisfied with having a business partner? Because Dan keeps me accountable. Any responsibility that requires a regular commitment is much easier when you have a partner in crime. Consider the example of a gym membership. Motivating yourself to go alone can be incredibly difficult. But when you meet up weekly with a friend who pushes you to do your best, it’s suddenly much easier.

The same thing applies to business. Accountability works wonders. In fact, it’s been shown that having two founders, rather than one, significantly increases a startup’s odds of success. Not only do two founders raise, on average, 30 percent more in investments, they also grow customers three times as fast.

2. Splitting equity is complicated.

Unsurprisingly, the most common complaint otherwise happy co-founders have is over equity. Determining a fair equity split can be awkward and messy.

Tons of co-founders have been interviewed about this, and many of them . The reason for such a warning is the same issue that bothers many older business owners: “co-CEOs.” Egos are very real and easily bruised.

But there is a fair and objective way to split equity (there’s ). Personally, I think one of the most sensible ways to split equity is to list out the major roles that need to be filled, (including who came up with the original idea and brought everyone together), calculate a weighted value to each assigned role and then add up the numbers.

Why don’t more co-founders decide on their equity split in such a logical, objective manner? Because it can be an incredibly awkward and touchy subject. Just finding a single dependable co-founder who believes in your vision is hard enough; that’s why so many co-founders just agree to a 50/50 split before they even begin to investigate what they’ll actually be doing.

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That might be the easy solution, but it isn’t the fair one. And, in the long run, the fair solution is what holds partnerships together.

3. You have someone to cover you.

One of the privileges of having a dependable business partner? You don’t have to completely sacrifice your work-life balance.

You can work a bit less because there are two people hustling instead of one, which is why . Your partner can cover you when you can’t make a crucial client meeting. He or she will spot your mistakes and let you know about them. You can divide and conquer and grow the company faster than if you were finding clients on your own.

Doing it all on your own, by comparison, can be incredibly intimidating and burn you out so much faster. Most “solopreneurs” admit that they work like dogs,  and still feel miserable. There’s even an article out there titled “.”

But that doesn’t have to be you. Most solopreneurs who have failed had no business trying to run their own business alone and just weren’t very self-aware. I’m one of those people, which is exactly why I wanted a co-founder.

4. You have to coordinate a lot more.

When you start a business with another human being, you learn to compromise. It really is like any other long-term relationship that takes practice and dedication. (My girlfriend constantly jokes that I should just marry Dan.)

What happens when you have to compromise on a daily basis? You have to coordinate a lot more meetings, make a lot more last-minute phone calls and sometimes drag yourself to the closest restaurant still open after midnight for an impromptu strategy session. Things just get done at a slower pace when you have a co-founder.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, 80 percent of all new businesses fail within the first 18 months. And an overwhelming number of them fail, not because the solopreneur couldn’t find clients or because the co-founders couldn’t get along, .

What’s the best way to prevent your startup from scaling too quickly? You guessed it — get a co-founder.

5. Two heads are better than one.

Common wisdom dictates that you shouldn’t start a company with a close friend or family member. When so much is on the line and the pressure is constantly on, the chances of things going south (along with your relationship) are very high.

But you know what Dan and I did have going for us? The fact that there were exactly two of us. Many of the most successful companies in history had exactly two founders. So, not only are two heads better than one, two founders are probably better than three or more.

When there are too many people at the table or in the boardroom, it can be a recipe for disaster. I see this play out all the time on a much smaller scale during client kickoff calls. As an example, imagine getting just one client to . Next, try convincing five people to pick the same one.

Now, imagine trying to get four co-founders to pick out the same website design for your new company.

Do you have a co-founder in mind?

Thinking back, I realize that Dan and I were very lucky. We pretty much decided to start a business together on little more than a hunch, and we barely knew each other. Any number of things could have gone terribly, horribly wrong. But they didn’t, and I think I know why.

I’ll go back to . You can steer your ship into stormy waters by yourself, surviving entirely on your own wit and determination. Or you can have a trusted sailor by your side, helping bail the water and man the helm when you’re tired.

Related: 

Ask yourself — which option is more appealing?

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Behavior Traits of Successful Businesses

Businesses are resource limited and must determine where and in what way to allocate resources to achieve business mission objectives. This translates to why it is so important for business to be creative and actively plan for innovation correctly. Innovation is a change of direction and it alters investment policy so it is essential from […]

Read more
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