Three Types of People Every Entrepreneur Needs On His Or Her Team
I have been blessed the past couple of months to be able to interview some inspiring entrepreneurs on the Wheelbarrow Profits podcast, and I’ve noticed that most successful entrepreneurs exhibit the same qualities. My feelings were confirmed when I sat down to lunch this past week with a self described ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) entrepreneur named Len Giancola. He is the founder of Success Beach, a company that’s mission is to teach kids how to make money and achieve financial freedom to “get back your time”. Len stated that every entrepreneur needs these three types of people on his or her team to achieve success and produce meaningful results. Let me list them for you and dive into the qualities of each person:
1. Connector
2. Executor
3. Back Bone
I was fortunate to be able to host a live call on Facebook with Len while sitting at his beach club, and we dove into empowering questions and how his journey has led him to become a full-time investor and achieve a perfect life. Click here to watch the video:
Connector:
Amazingly, Len and I met through a connector named Pete Kuc. I met Pete back in March when I rented out his vacation home in St. Augustine, and from that fortuitous meeting, I was introduced to Len and several other fantastic people. What are the qualities of a connector? A connector is someone who is constantly networking, or as Len simply stated, someone who is “working the room”. They are extremely likable, gregarious, genuinely interested in others, and willing to talk to anybody. From that one meeting, I was able to grow my network, and it cost me zero. I now had access to all of Pete’s friends and business associates, and vice versa.
During our live Facebook call, one of the viewers made the comment: “Your network is your net worth”. I could not agree more. In our Multifamily Mastery training, we emphasize the value of building an all-star team, and the stronger your team, the more you will be able to accomplish. In real estate, it seems as if all the good deals are sold before they hit the market. Who do you think has access to those deals?
It is not in my nature to be a connector, but I now have a friend who is a connector. I have to admit, I am trying to become more of a connector, pushing myself outside my comfort zone. But until I get there, I will continue to use the Jake & Gino brand as a form of connector!
Executor:
Do you have someone on the team who gets the job done, and closes the deal? While having lunch with Len, it was apparent that this was his forte. He felt less comfortable with working the room, but excelled at analyzing opportunities and being able to execute. An executor is one who does what they say and says what they do. If they need to analyze a deal and make a quick decision, done! They make take a bit of time to come to a decision, but once they have decided, they are full steam ahead.
We can all become executors, but you need to practice at it just like any other skill in life. When I first started analyzing deals, I would come up with countless excuses on why a deal wasn’t penciling out. Only when I realized that multifamily real estate was going to be my future did I develop into an executor (with the help of my partner Jake!).
Back Bone:
The backbone is what keeps the ship on its course, keeps all the systems running efficiently. Len was quick to claim that this was not his strong suit. He does understand how vital this function of the business is, and praised his wife’s skills in this area. What are some of the responsibilities of the backbone?
- Legal
- Accounting/bookkeeping
- Managing employees
- Running and creating systems for the business
It reminds me of our business and our mission. We are a vertically integrated Real Estate Company , which allows us to control the entire operation, from purchase, to management, to accounting, and to the disposition of the asset. As we have expanded the portfolio, creating a strong backbone has allowed us to assess our performance and focus on our weaknesses. We are in control of the asset, and have the ability to drive the performance. We all know what happens to people with weak backbones. They succumb to everyone’s whims, and ultimately lose control of their lives.
Now here’s the good news. You don’t have to transform into all three of these people, you just need to have them on your team. Let’s start building our business by connecting with more people, executing on deals and strengthening our backbone!
Task:
Decide which three of the qualities you excel at, and become that person. I have used Strengths Finders Book to assess where my strengths and weaknesses lie. Network and recruit the ones that you are weaker in. Consider joining or creating a mastermind to begin to surround yourself with like minded individuals.
If you are interested in partnering or investing with Jake & Gino, click on the link below and fill out our questionnaire: