Lesson #13
Never Be as Weak as Your Weakest Link
One of the most important lessons learned in building anything is how to recognize that all the various pieces become the sum of a business. You inevitably realize that sometimes a couple of those pieces spoil under the bright lights of attention. Everything you've achieved up until this point will become immaterial if you fail to understand this lesson.
Successful entrepreneurs don't panic when parts begin to spoil. Instead, the entrepreneur asks whether those components still add real value to the equation. If they don't, the entrepreneur must be ready to do something about it. That sometimes means shifting things around, or even eliminating the piece. When it involves people, it may mean combining two functions under one person.
Too many entrepreneurs are willing to stand by and watch components deteriorate, despite the old tenet that a business is only as strong as its weakest link. They expect the stronger links to pick up the slack from the weaker ones.
However, I developed a specific mind-set for dealing with weak links many years ago. When something does not work—and if one or two fixes don't rectify the problem—I begin to look at the issue from a different perspective. The key is not assuming any part of the current setup is untouchable or sacred. Entrepreneurs must decide that what was originally envisioned as a strong component of the business just isn't happening or is not going to happen. It might be that the economics ...
