

You need help. - jesselamb
http://notmylawyer.com/post/802886821/you-need-help

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JacobAldridge
Admitting you need help is the first step. The second step is planning forward
what help you will need / want when.

For example: if you're bootstrapping it makes sense to use a second-hand
photocopier yourself; at some future point, all things going to plan, your
business will need a more reliable machine being operated by your secretary.
Most business owners make that decision reactively - they wait until the old
copier dies or they're too stressed out and need admin support.

Great business owners put in a little bit of time to capacity planning, so
they have the milestones (eg, when I hit $X revenue per month for 3
consecutive months) for adding resource to maintain profitability and
sustainable growth. As a spreadsheet-literate business geek, helping them do
that planning is one of the more fun elements of my career.

Of course, my career would be more profitable is more business owners read
Jesse's blog, and made that first step.

~~~
jesselamb
Mine too. :P

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Xurinos
Does this ring true for most of the readers here, or is it just the author's
self-reflection? I had something similar to that mindset into my early 20s and
then grew out of it (which coincided with a professional life after college,
with working with intelligent people). I have no problem asking others for
things/help, and I can still give it in spades.

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thaumaturgy
It rings true for me (I'm 31, but act like 20). I've known for a while that I
need help, I'm just having a terrible time actually getting it. (HN user
skmurphy has recently offered some assistance though!)

The article's description of the way in which I got into this position sounds
right though -- you start out resourceful, people rely on you, and that makes
you reluctant to rely on others.

~~~
jesselamb
Yeah, finding help is a skill you have to develop like any other. It's not
easy, but it scales better than doing everything yourself, and you get better
at identifying problems and who might be able to help the more you try.

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maqr
I think "help" for many people means "just get it done, and I don't care how".
When I ask for help, it's usually from people who are more knowledgeable than
me; and it's usually in the form of "how does this work?" rather than "can you
do this for me?".

Maybe this is holding me back in some way that I don't realize?

~~~
jesselamb
I think it depends. Sometimes all you need is someone who can get you to an
answer faster. But, at least when you're running a business, it's often more
efficient to have someone else take care certain things for you instead of
doing them yourself. It's an obvious point but it's easy to miss in practice
when you're starting out if you're accustomed to handling everything yourself.

