Get a professional co-founder

I am currently working on a project with a client, that actually has an amazing idea, and already has a brand and website in place. The concept is ingenious, and he also has good contacts to potential investors. He is pretty much good to go – though for some reason nothing seems to happen. I reached out to him recently in order to get an update, and he suffers from the entrepreneur syndrome that overwhelms people and make the tasks too big to handle alone.

So we got to talk, and he has been completely honest about the fact, that he really wants my help in order to do a lot of the ground work. It is always easier to be two people starting a business, cause you develop a sense of commitment to the project, and that helps you often overcome the entrepreneur syndrome.

That is also why many new businesses start between families or friends or couples, but that can also turn out to be the reason why a business may fail. When you work together with a person close to you, it gets harder to take a stand, or point out mistakes, or have an opinion – cause you don’t want to hurt one another.

So my suggestion is to get a professional co-founder. A person that can put in the engagement to your business, help you find solutions and develop on concepts, but also a person that doesn’t have a meaningful position in your personal life, as well doesn’t have to take part in the ownership of your business.

When I am working as co-founder on a product or business, I usually work for equity and only charges for actual deliveries. What I mean by that, is if I am board and am building a business with you, I am on the phone for you, and independently working on your business as well in exchange for equity in the business, but should you require a digital landing page, some graphics made, a video teaser, investor pitch deck etc. this would be considered a normal expense as with anything else. Of course – since I am also part of the business, the work is delivered to a much lower charge than usual as well.

I think more and more newly started business owners can benefit from creating a professional founding relationship with a business designer and entrepreneur in order to get the most out of their initial launch. One other thing that a new business owner can benefit from having a co-founder like yours truly, is the experience gained from previous start-ups, which can help avoid making similar mistakes and improve the process much more.