Owning your own business might feel like a one-man show, but it’s not. There are a lot of moving parts to owning a business and having resources can make all the difference when you feel lost, stressed, or overwhelmed. In addition to the unique things you need to run your business, there are resources that help every entrepreneur regardless of their enterprise. Some of those resources include:

• Mentors and a network
• Assistant(s)
• Professional Staff 
• a Team

Every entrepreneur needs mentors and a network.

Though you may feel like you’re going at your business alone, you truly aren’t. Every entrepreneur needs mentors and teachers in their life to help them learn the ropes, weather the storms, solve the problems, and bounce ideas.

You might reach out to someone specifically as a mentor (and yes, you can have more than one!), or you might naturally find mentors and teachers as you grow your network. You can also hire consultants or engage in other formalized mentorships.

You want to grow your network to include people you can learn from, people in a similar situation or industry that you can relate with, etc.

You can find these people through networking events at the chamber, industry groups, targeted seminars, and other similar organizations/events.

Recommended read: The Importance of Face-to-Face Networking

Every entrepreneur needs an assistant.

There are things in your business that are money-making tasks and things that are time zappers. While there are numerous things that need to be done, they don’t necessarily need to be done by you. Assistants can supplement your skills and take on important tasks so you are free to focus on the money-making tasks that only you can do. 

Delegating and/or outsourcing can be hard the first time for various reasons, but it’s an important step for every successful entrepreneur.

If you’re the business owner, then you’re likely a CEO – whether you want to accept it or not. So get comfortable being uncomfortable and step into your CEO roles as soon as possible. Start listing all the tasks that need to be done and determine which ones actually need to be done by you. The rest can be offloaded onto an assistant, contractor, or employee.

As you’re just starting out, you might prefer to start with an assistant, virtual assistant, or online business manager. These roles can take on a variety of tasks with the main goal of assisting you. .

Once you have more like tasks you can then create job roles or projects to assign to contractors or staff.

Recommended read: 5 Creative Ways to Find Employees Post-Pandemic

Every entrepreneur needs professional support.

There are aspects of business that must be covered by professionals. From attorneys to tax preparers there are important people who need to be on your team. Having a resource for legal and financial questions or to carry out important tasks should be non-negotiable.

Don’t try to manage legal and financial elements of your business if you are neither an attorney nor tax specialist. Hire the right people to ensure you are protected. 

Every entrepreneur needs a team. 

Your team isn’t necessarily just your staff. This includes the professional staff & service providers you contract out, your consultants, etc. Anyone you might talk to when you need help or advice.

Determine which resources you need, find and make the proper connections and watch your business thrive. 

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