Should entrepreneurs try to do it all alone?

In addition to the people we hire to provide the skills that we either don't possess or don't do as well as someone else, it is the wise entrepreneur who assembles a cadre of advisers.

By Michael Denning  |  Professor of Practice

The most successful entrepreneurs know that they cannot do everything themselves. Many start with an idea and add people as they go along, but I would like to suggest that in addition to the people we hire to provide the skills that we either don't possess or don't do as well as someone else, it is the wise entrepreneur who assembles a cadre of advisers.

A banker who specializes in financing small businesses, an accountant who understands small business bookkeeping, an attorney who "gets" the needs of entrepreneurs and an insurance broker with many small business clients are just the beginning. Peer advisory groups are a fantastic resource for the entrepreneur, regardless of his or her education or experience level. Typically these groups consist of other entrepreneurs, business owners or executives who are not competitors and do not have significant business relationships with each other.

They meet periodically to discuss opportunities and challenges and provide the entrepreneur with an opportunity to receive unfiltered feedback. Corner offices are lonely places. While we like to believe that we have open doors and that everyone is welcome to discuss things with us, it is at best a "screen door."

These groups offer the entrepreneur opportunities to harvest the collective wisdom of others who have no other agenda than to help each other. Numerous third party surveys have found that companies that participate in such groups grow at a rate that is a multiple of their competitors who do not belong to one.

If you believe that this is not the best route for you then I suggest you find a mentor or coach — someone who can provide you with the benefit of his or her experience. The Service Corps of Retired Executives is a source of mentors who typically do not charge for their services. If you find a peer advisory group that also provides such coaching, all the better.

Yes, it is your business and you have a right to be proud of what you have accomplished, but other sets of eyes see things that the entrepreneur may not. Many minds tend to be wiser than one. It is not a weak person who seeks help, it is a risky one who does not.

Professor of Practice Michael Denning teaches entrepreneurship and marketing at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He is also the chair of several private peer advisory boards of CEOs with Vistage International and is a frequently quoted business expert.