A HELPING HAND Why Business Leaders Need to Ask for Help
is one of mankind’s greatest strengths. But if the act of asking for help is so essential in our lives, why do entrepreneurs have such a hard time with it?
This struggle often comes from pride, the idea that if you admit you can’t do it all, then you can’t do anything. But this mindset often leads to ruin. In a survey by 99 Design, most entrepreneurs claimed the worst mistake they ever made wasn’t a poor financial decision or bad planning — it was simply not asking for help early in their careers. Having to ask for help isn’t a sign that you’re unable to achieve what you set out to do. In fact, when you ask for help in business, you may find you’re able to achieve more. This is because asking for help is a form of networking. You’re actively reaching out to experts, learning how other people solve problems, and broadening the awareness of your name and brand at the same time. If you struggle to ask others for help when you need it, start by changing your mindset. You don’t have to do it all; you’re just one person, and sometimes one person needs to delegate tasks to others to get more done. Asking for help is also easier when you know what you want to ask for. BEWARE THE TOP 3 In truth, if you are setting up a new business, you shouldn’t be doing it online at all. We always recommend using an attorney. The few hundred dollars you spend today can, quite literally, save you tens of thousands or more tomorrow. Remember the movie “The Social Network” about the Harvard frat boys who created Facebook? They didn’t set their deal up properly or even write it down. The Winklevoss twins famously settled their lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg for $65 million in cash and stock, which is great until you consider that Zuckerberg is now the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $81,600,000,000. So, the next time you think about setting up a business, beware the Top 3, but, better yet, come see us. That old saying about being pennywise and pound foolish has been around for 500 years for a reason. P.S. Don’t feel too sorry for the Winklevoss twins. They invested their Facebook settlement in Bitcoin at $120 a coin and, at today’s price of $7,426 a coin, are reported to be the first Bitcoin billionaires.
“Can you give me a hand?”
Asking for help is a simple request. Most people do it every day, whether they’re getting a second opinion on a paint color or asking a stranger to hold the elevator. Asking for help is important; the ability to work as a team
We all know the top 3–5 results from virtually any web search are sponsored ads. Type in “airlines,” for example, and the first four results are travel services like Expedia. The largest airline in the world, American, shows up fifth. Most folks booking a flight are not going to confuse Travelocity with American Airlines, but the same is not true when looking for online business services. Did you know that most services offered for free by the government are also offered by online providers for a fee? And guess who sponsors ads? Not Uncle Sam. When setting up a new company in Texas, the minimum necessary forms are available on the Secretary of State’s website. The application for a Federal Employer Identification Number is at IRS.gov. All of these forms are available for free, but if you simply type in “EIN,” for example, the first options you get are sponsored ads from predators looking to charge a fee. Their websites always look official. Most of these paid services simply overlay their software onto the IRS website, so you pay them a fee, but the form you fill out is quite literally the form available at IRS.gov. The same is true with forms from the Secretary of State.
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