Oscar the Grouch
From George Carlin to Florence King, my favorite humorists have always been the misanthropes and the cynics. Though a great fan of the human race as a whole, I just cannot stand most folks.
I am however, no dope. Every business needs people. Not just employees and customers but clients, suppliers, neighbors, communities, supporters, mentors, and friends. That is why, without exception, when I start a venture I look for an extroverted partner. Not only in business, but for any project of any size or complexity, I begin with a quite, extended search for that perfect, cheery co-conspirator; he or she must be a natural people person—someone who takes real delight in meeting, greeting, and befriending everyone they meet.
My system works. I like numbers, money, balance, and form. Inevitably, my partners are happy to pass off the abstract and airy details of accounting and law to me, freeing them up for what they like: the relationships, conversations, and networking.
I hesitate to site any one story or anecdote to support the wisdom of this tactic, for that would only belittle the hundreds of other examples that support my point. I must submit, instead, my whole entrepreneurial history. Whether any given venture I have undertaken succeeded or failed, it was never due bad relationships. My partners were always there to be the face of the business. My partners always brought in the supporters, smoothed the rough edges, and generally cemented our business into the vast web of people needed to make things work.
I would never spent the “wasted” hours my current partner has spent going to parties and chatting up the neighbors. Yet these same parties and neighbors have led directly to, at least: the road to the school getting paved, the school’s colonia receiving landline phone service, a friendly neighbor providing low-cost night watch and cleaning service for the school, not to mention literally thousands of dollars in donations and discounts over the course of the year.
Some people are natural sole-proprietors—well rounded and handy in every way. I have met a few. But I am not such a person. I know my weaknesses, and I plan for them. What is your weak spot? Where do you fall short of perfect? What aspect of your business makes you the least comfortable? Sometimes, if it is a small thing, you can simply close the gap with studious practice and determination. But sometimes, there is no profit in it, not when hooking up with just the right partner is so much easier, surer, and more profitable.
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