You need someone in your corner you can trust… someone to back you up… As your business grows, you need that person who is going to be that unbiased voice in your ear telling you what you probably don’t want to hear.
You are building your business; you are running things. While this is your business and any projects involved are yours, it is never a bad idea to have a trusted confidant whom you can bounce your ideas off. We are all human and psychologically, we can become clouded in our judgement from time to time. Do not allow this to stifle you as it happens to the best of us; I assure you.
There was a man of whom I had worked with many times again and again over several years. We had become close as I grew to know his family as he did mine. Essentially, he would contract work to me, and we had an agreement in which he would pay me by the hour. I would keep a log of my time and submit him invoices. Since the work kept coming, and I saw the work fairly easy to add into my other projects, I continued taking the work. After the first couple of invoices, he began to get behind on paying me… He would fall short of paying an entire invoice; he would pay late…sometimes multiple invoices could pile up, then I’d get paid for most of the sum… He would always catch up, but business just wasn’t as good for him as he would’ve liked it to be. I gave him some leniency as I knew he was struggling, and he needed my help… besides, I would get all my money eventually, at least that is how it seemed to me at the time…but whenever he would get caught with billed invoices, there was already another one in the works.
I had explained to my Mom about the arrangement I had going on as I always told her about my many business dealings. She was always cheering me on, and it felt good having her to always talk to. When I told her about what was going on, she warned me at first to just be cautious. She said, “just be careful; you know how these things can be.” I reassured her not to worry as I got it under control. She always trusted me… she just expressed that that is what Moms do… She trusted me but wanted to be sure I was okay.
This went on a couple of years… Work started to dwindle down and I got calls less frequently which was fine for me as I had other things that were getting heavier that needed my attention.
So after some time, we connected again and tried to get something going… My Mom instantly chimed in and told me to be careful… After working together for two weeks, the second week we worked together was the largest week in sales he had ever had even though he had been doing this for over ten years. It was amazing and he was shocked at what we pulled off. We instantly saw potential… we agreed on a salary spot for me as long as I met quotas each month, I would stay on this salary… otherwise, back to hourly… but I’m still working contract labor. I am running my business and just being contracted by him… My Mom continued to check in on me on the regular which she always did, but she just had a bad feeling that this wasn’t going to work as I was thinking it could. She was right.
Over the next few months he continued to fall short on my payments and then got to the point he was paying me nothing… I was thinking we are working on something big, and I was happy to be a part of it… I quickly realized it wasn’t mine. My Mom…she knew already from the jump… I just didn’t see what she saw. You need that wingman (or in my case… my wing-Momma… haha) that is gonna keep it one hundred with you… not only are they going to keep it real and straight, but they are knowledgeable enough and aware enough to pick up on the things you may be missing or overlooking. That’s what you need… You need someone you can trust who may not know the complete inner workings of how you’re getting down and doing your business, but they know just enough to be the support and confidant to help push you to reach your potential and not be clouded by yourself.
It is hard to know who that person may be for you, and it may not even be the same person every single time… Just be open to the possibility that you may need an extra pair of ears and eyes to catch what you may miss.
Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. Don’t allow yourself to be taken advantage of. Don’t allow yourself to be sucked into someone else’s dream. Build your own dreams and don’t build them through others… you got this…. Ya hear me…. You got this!
Now Get Cocky and go get paid already.
beingcoreybayless 