Thinking of starting a business? First make sure you have these five people in your life

Over 90% of startups fail. If the founder had the right people in their corner, this number would be dramatically reduced. There are five people you need to successfully get your business off the ground.

1. Your rock

There are endless articles about the emotional roller coaster of starting a business and, if anything, the ones I’ve read don’t do it justice. When you launch a business you’ll experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows – all within 60 minutes. All day long. Every single day. Which is why you must have someone who is your rock supporting you throughout the emotional whiplashing. Through it all, there they are, helping to make your journey less lonely.  

2. A guiding light

Having a mentor to rely on for advice is absolutely critical. I have several people in my life who are my guiding lights when I don’t know what my next move is. These are the people I call when I have an SOS moment and need someone to help me think through what to do. This might just be the most important person, or group of people, in your entrepreneurial journey.

3. The Competition

I learned very early on that you WANT competition. It’s much harder to be the first person to create something because it’s then your responsibility to educate the customer about the value of your product or service. This is expensive. It’s exhausting. And it takes a lot of time. If you have competition, people immediately understand what you’re offering so you don’t have to spend time education AND selling. This allows you to focus on delivering a product or service that is better than the competition – or different in some special way.

4. A Fan Squad

Starting a business is like being the quarterback of the football team when your team is playing in the Super Bowl. Imagine walking onto the field on Super Bowl Sunday and there is no one in the stands. It’s dead silent. No one even knows you’re about to play the biggest game of your life. That’s what starting a business feels like when you don’t have a fan squad. You gain energy, excitement, and optimism when you have people who are cheering you on and rooting for you to succeed. It can be family, friends, and acquaintances who believe in you when you are starting to doubt yourself (see emotional roller coaster in #1).

5. The Mathematician

“Start-up life” has been glorified by stories of dramatically quitting your corporate job, grinding away 24/7 on an idea, and reaching success through a combination of luck and hard work. What these stories don’t incorporate is harsh, make-or-break the financial reality of starting a business. One of my mentors told me early on that it will take twice as long as I expected, be twice as hard as I expected, and cost twice as much as I expected to launch Eleview. He was wrong. It was more like 5 times the numbers I had in my head. Thankfully, I had a financial advisor who worked with me to create a realistic financial plan to make my dream a reality. I also had an accountant who helped me get set up to take advantage of the tax breaks that come with being self-employed. Having a financial runway is one of the not-so-glamorous necessities when starting a business.

About Elise Gelwicks

Elise has specialized in human capital development for 8 years. She founded her first company while in college to help students secure internships through networking. After working at Kimberly-Clark and in management consulting, she founded Eleview. Eleview helps companies transform their professionals into leaders, ultimately driving increased retention and engagement. Eleview facilitates workshops on the essential interpersonal and leadership skills, and creates customized internship and onboarding programs.

Elise has been featured in the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, and ABC News. She was selected by LinkedIn to teach a course on networking skills for their platform members. She is a sought-after speaker at universities, companies, and conferences.

Learn more at EleviewConsulting.com.