It’s that simple. And that complicated.
Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs think that possessing a great vision or idea is enough. The reality, as most of them find out, bites.
In my conversations with an investor who was burnt several times in the past by investing in businesses that didn’t take off the ground, I kept hearing him say: “Having the idea is only a start, the hard part is executing on it to make it a success.”
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration over 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years. Why? What goes wrong?
The truth is: there are plenty of brilliant ideas out there, but there are very few leaders who can build a successful business. Having an idea only takes you the first several steps towards the long journey of turning that idea into reality, the rest of it is miles and miles of skills required to run day-to-day operations, to hire and – most importantly – retain the right talent, ability to network and find the right partners, ability to procure additional funding, the list goes on and on.
You cannot execute on your vision alone. No one can! Success is a team sport. You need people behind you who are jazzed about your idea, who have a variety of skills that you, the founder, don’t possess, who are not there only to collect the paycheck, but to weather the storm with you. Because believe me, there will be storms, plenty of them.
If you think that money is enough to get you there, think again. You need a sharp and dedicated team to execute on your brilliance. And to lead that team effectively long-term requires a lot of things: humility, ability to make hard decisions, listen, prioritize, build trust, inspire… It requires compassion.
A lot of founders though have huge egos. They expect people to execute on their direction without questioning that direction. They are never wrong and it’s always someone else’s fault. They create bottlenecks. They can also be insecure, threatened by strong people, and sometimes downright paranoid. Instead of empowering, they isolate. And that is always their downfall. Very small number of people like that succeed, and if they do, it’s because they not only have the vision, they also possess mad business skills. But if all you have is your vision, you better hire people who are smart, risk-takers, and are willing to stick their neck out for the success of your vision. And you better suppress your ego and get out of their way. Because if all you have is vision and no leadership or business skills whatsoever, you need those people more than they need you.
The same concept applies to investing: people don’t just invest in businesses because of a great idea, first and foremost they invest in the leadership of the company. If you are not able to show the ability to inspire, to lead, to execute, you won’t get the necessary capital you need to move forward.
It’s that simple. And that complicated.
Originally appeared in Forbes