As a business owner it is your responsibility to ensure that you do everything within your power to protect yourself and your business.
We talk about hearing NO’s a lot around here, most of the time we want to hear NO’s. It often means we’re closer to getting the YES we so desire, but sometimes those NO’s can come with negative consequences. Negative consequences are things we want to avoid at ALL COSTS!
In this post we’re going to be talking about ways you can protect yourself, so you don’t need to constantly be looking over your shoulder.
Protect Yourself
If you have an idea for a business, there will come a time when you’ll need to start looking for partners or investors in order to get your idea off the ground. In the very beginning it can be very easy to get excited by your idea coming to fruition that you aren’t careful in who you bring in to be a partner or an investor.
You begin your search and if you work tirelessly, you’ll eventually come upon someone who is interested in you, your product or service and has the money to help get things moving. Without doing your proper research, this could end up backfiring in your face. You want to be sure your investor aligns with your vision.
A guest on my podcast, Success Unfiltered, Steve Olsher, shared with us that he had the idea for his very first business at the age of 19. He had been DJ’ing in the clubs around his area, had curated a pretty big following and decided that he’d open a club of his own, that provided amazing dance music and was an alcohol-free club (since he was underage).
He created his business plan, found investors, and hired a manager to manage the club. What he had not anticipated was that the manager and the investor would be in cahoots and have a different vision for the club. In the end, because their visions didn’t align, Steve had to walk away. He had no way of fighting them, and didn’t believe it was worth the fight.
Steve learned a VERY important lesson here, you need to put protective mechanisms in place so that something like this doesn’t happen in the future. However, he admits to still not having implemented it, many years later.
Seek the Guidance of Others
Obviously, in a situation like listed above you want to ensure you have lawyers and good counsel to back you up, but beyond that having friends or mentors to talk to.
In today’s entrepreneurial world, there are so many different influencers out there. People who are in a similar niche who have so much to offer, but they almost seem out of reach.
It can seem scary and intimidating to reach out to these people, but I promise you that having an influencer that is willing to listen to your ideas and offer feedback, can be a game changer for your business.
But, you might be wondering… How could I possibly get an influencer to pay any attention to me?
One really great, and often effective way is to offer them something they’ll take notice of.
What does that mean?
Let me use myself as an example, I’m AMAZING at selling without being sleazy and one of my goals is to teach as many people as possible to do the same thing. THIS is what led me to starting my podcast.
In order to get my word out, I wanted to bring influencers onto the show who had experienced some serious NO’s in their lives and had turned those negative situations into YES’s, and then success.
It’s not easy to get big names to come on a brand-new podcast but, I was able show them how I could help get their message out, by being on my show.
This is exactly how I was able to get John Lee Dumas and Pat Flynn on Success Unfiltered.
Obviously, this is no guarantee, but the reason it could work is because you are willing to do something to help the influencer in a way that they otherwise wouldn’t have experienced. In the end, they’ll be grateful and more willing to work with you, and they also have a way to contribute and give back to others that want to be where they are.
Essentially by standing out from the crowd, you’re building space for them to become your mentor. A seasoned mentor is an amazing person to bounce ideas and questions off of, so you can avoid being kicked out of your own company. (ie. They’d know more about the legal stuff that you need to protect yourself.)
Remain Humble
You can never have too much outside support in business. It is important to surround yourself with inspiring, hard working entrepreneurs.
Having the internet at our fingertips allows us to have a full circle of supportive friends without even leaving our homes. However, the thing that is important to remember, is that people are not drawn to those who act cocky or believe they have it all figured out and don’t need help.
An easy way to make yourself magnetic to others is to remain humble in business.
This does not mean that you don’t take credit for your work, or that you need to act insecure, it’s quite the opposite. It’s okay to know your stuff, but be willing to share what you know. If you’re involved in a conversation that you know a lot about, add the information that you have. Share openly and willingly.
This is exactly what I am doing with my blog, my podcast, Success Unfiltered and my Facebook Live show, Coffee is For Closers. And I have people willing to connect with me frequently because of it.
Don’t be worried about someone stealing your ideas, that very rarely happens, and instead you can end up building a solid friendships that help you grow and take your business further.
In Conclusion
Protect yourself.
If you’re just getting started, or even if you’re not, don’t delay taking the necessary precautions to protect yourself from the not so fun things about what entrepreneurship entails.
I’ve had my share of lawsuits and HR issues, trust me, it’s important to protect yourself from the get-go. Spend the money on GREAT attorneys NOW because it will be save you millions of dollars in the end.
Get more from Steve:
- What Is Your WHAT?: Discover The One Amazing Thing You Were Born To Do
- The Influencer Effect: Insider Tips for Gearing Up Your Online Success
- Internet Prophets: The World’s Leading Experts Reveal How to Profit Online
- The Ultimate Internet Prophets Survival Guide: 10 Resources EVERYONE With A Website Must Have In Their Marketing Arsenal
- Journey To You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Becoming Who You Were Born to Be
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