Several years ago, I decided to start a flower nursery. After about a month of laboring at it, I gave up on my effort, exhausted and frustrated. Two years later I tried again having learned why I failed the first time and my nursery was an envy to behold. Here is what I did differently: I enlisted the service of all else that I could to help me at one stage or the other of the process.

Looking back, it is so obvious why my first attempt failed. I had the skill needed to raise various kinds of ornamental plants, but to think that that singular skill was all that I needed to create a great nursery was where I got it wrong. It requires much more to raise a great nursery or make money from doing so. I had the skill, but many other skills were required which I just did not have. So I sat down, itemized what skills I lacked and got the help of others who could fill the void for me and that made it work.

Here are some lessons you will find useful as a young person with an ambition to dare something great in future or anytime soon, especially as an entrepreneur:

1.       There is only so little anyone can do all alone. Don’t even try. If you try do everything alone, you will get frustrated. Even when you think you are succeeding you’ll discover that other parts of your life are suffering for it, this need not be so. Do not get too fixated on anything in such a way that your life tilts out of balance. Understand that you are human, with the limitations of time and a body.

2.     It takes more than a singular skill to succeed. Not realizing this fact is the reason we have many people with great ideas who end up amounting to nothing. That you came up with an idea does not mean you have the power and skill to execute it. It will be wise to bring in someone who has other needed skills to make your dream a reality.

3.     You don’t have all the skill set needed to achieve your goal inherent in you. So take inventory of your skills and strength. Note what you are lacking and then identify someone who has those complementing skills and collaborate with them. You may be a great idea person but lack marketing and negotiation skills. Why not get someone who complements you, someone who can build your beautiful idea into a business that puts cool cash in your pocket instead of clutching it until it runs outdated.

4.     It is better to own 10% of a great company or any kind of venture, than to own 100% of a small thing. You must be ready to let go of some of your autonomy, authority and profit in order to achieve your goal in a much bigger, easier and worthwhile way. Why live small?

A good example here is the man Robert Kiyosaki. He had a great idea for a book but he is a poor writer. So he enlists the help of Sharon Lechter [whose name you will always see on his book as co-author] he seeds her mind with the idea and she turns it into a book. The job is easier for him and the product is far better than if he had written it himself.

Then he goes ahead and partners with a great company to produce and sell his titles. In the end, he has not lifted a single finger or spent a dime of his own money. He ends up having less than 50% of the total sales of his entire book as royalty, but that in actual terms amount to double-digit millions in US dollars.

Had he tried to do it all himself, he would have owned all the money made from the sales but it would not have amounted even up 10% of what he now makes and he would not be as globally recognized as he is today, and he would have been discouraged and frustrated at some point and the world would have missed out on his great insights.

Always bear in mind that it is not always about you. You need to look at something bigger than yourself. And get the wisdom to get a partner!

Let’s hear from you: What do you think about the concept of partnership?

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