Five Types of People That All Successful Businesses Must Have

In the land of super hero entrepreneurs who spend 50+ hours a week growing every part of their business, I am here to tell you that it is impossible for you to be all things--and all people--to your business.  To ensure future success, an entrepreneur needs to quickly find key people to help build and sustain an enterprise.

Five People All Successful Businesses Need:

• Visionary - Someone in the business, preferably the owner, must have a wild imagination about where the business can go and what it can accomplish.  For an entrepreneur, living too much in the weeds can stifle growth.  The visionary is the person who sees a bright future and encourages everyone to stay on course and charge ahead. 
• Tactician - Tacticians are needed because they have very specific skills that will strengthen the business.  Plus, they do the assignments better and faster than the owner. To cut corners and save money, many entrepreneurs attempt to do tasks that should be handled by a consultant, expert or skilled worker. This is a big mistake. For the business to take flight, the entrepreneur must have an arsenal of tacticians who can handle everything from marketing to finance.  
• The Leveraged -  All strong businesses leverage people and resources to create a sustainable model. If you are a business owner and you make all the decisions and do most of the work, what happens when you get sick or if you get a huge contract?  Your business slows down or stops. You must have employees, partnerships and other people resources that you can use to make sure your business runs with or without you.
• Counsel - Every business should have at least three advisors.  As the scope and value of your business grows, you will definitely need more.  One advisor should be a person who can keep the owner encouraged.  Another should be someone who understands your industry and market.  And the last should be a guru who understand how to make and manage money.  You'll need other counsel as well, many of which can be found in the leveraged and tacticians. 
• Customer - Last but not least, you need customers. People have to buy from you to stay in business. However, many business owners make the mistake of rushing to get customers without thinking about their people support infrastructure first.  Before an entrepreneur asks a person to buy any service or product, he/she needs to have the visionary, tacticians, leveraged resources and counsel in place to help ensure that they maximize each sale and engagement.

Whether you have a start up, a non-profit or a growing small to medium business, find all these people and watch how your business blossom and gain momentum.