Teamwork is critical to building a successful business. Successful entrepreneurs engage a brain trust of mentors and advisors who coach them for free, and they develop strategic partnerships with individuals and businesses.

Nearly all of the entrepreneurs we met built a brain trust and strategic partnerships, even if they were operating a solo company. If they were growing a larger business, they also built a team of full-time partners.

Building your brain trust

The larger your brain trust, the more successful you’ll be in your business. So how do you find these people? I’ve put together a simple process from the hundreds of entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed over the years.

Step 1:

Complete a detailed inventory of the critical skills needed in your business. For example, some businesses are very la­bor intensive, while others are sales intensive; some require manufacturing and quality control, and others require eCommerce, information technology, and social media.

Step 2:

Conduct an honest evaluation of your own skills relative to the critical skills needed in your business. In other words, what are your strengths and weaknesses relative to your profile of required skills? Knowing this will help reveal the gaps you need to fill with advisors and team members.

Step 3:

Select one or two primary mentors who know you well and are willing to help. These are often friends, family members, or colleagues who are willing to take your calls and meet with you regularly. It’s best if they understand business, have a large pool of contacts, and are passionate about what you are doing.

Building your core team

My wife, Mary, and I ran our business — a frozen dessert shop — by ourselves until we had three stores and 30 employees. Although we had three great store managers, it was clear we’d eventually need more coverage in the field than we could provide. So we sat down and discussed the characteristics of a great general manager. This person had to “get” teenagers, enjoy working with them, be firm but fair, and be a great teacher and motivator. It sounded like we were looking for a scout master. Mary and I both thought of Gregg Morrow, he was super with young people, a key requirement for the role.

He was also honest, intelligent, hard-working, and savvy with technology. The problem was, Gregg had a good job 3M, and we were sure he wouldn’t be interested in the job. So we used him as our ideal persona in our search for a general manager. A few months later, we still hadn’t found anyone who measured up to Gregg, so I visited him at his office. He listened to my story and thanked me for thinking of him. Then he told me no.

A year later, we had five stores and 60 employees. I needed a general manager now more than ever, so I went back to visit Gregg. He had watched our progress during the past year and was intrigued with our growth. He decided he wasn’t going to change the world at 3M. He wanted to have more influence on young people and the community, and our position was now a good fit for him.

Gregg learned the business quickly and took our company from five to more than 60 stores. He was a phenomenal partner for eight years until we sold the company.

Just like our experience with Gregg, the entrepreneurs we interviewed over the past year chose team members primarily based on character. Since many of them run smaller companies, they can’t afford to have noxious people in their organization. They tend to look for decent people first and skills second. When you only have five or six people in your company, you can’t bury a difficult person deep in a corporate structure. So quality of character has to be a major emphasis when finding team members.

Most important, your team members should be passionate about your purpose, share your values, and fit the culture you’re trying to create. Nothing is more exciting than like-minded people enjoying the entrepreneurial experience together. And a highly motivated team with a common purpose will always go farther and faster than any individual working alone. So the best hiring strategy for an exciting company is purpose first, character second, and finally, skills third.

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