Partnering Up vs. Outsourcing vs. Solopreneurship

[Jessica J]

I'm not sure if this is a stupid question...but f*ck it I'm tired of asking MYSELF in the confines of my head with no answers.

I've been trudging along getting my business up and running and the more progress I make, the more I realize everything I don't know yet, and the more TIME I spend teaching myself techie things...

Then by the end of the day I'm burnt out from all the reading, learning, and youtube-video-watching with no concrete results to show for it.

I keep hearing that "You can't do it alone PARTNER UP!" and on the other end I ALSO hear, "Whatever you do DON'T partner up just outsource like a mother f*cker!"

I think back to MJ in the book where he spent night teaching himself everything he needed to know in his Arizona apartment and I wonder, "OK...so I'm pretty sure I'm just supposed to lone-wolf this shit until I know it all and can THEN outsource..."

In sum...

Mentor 1: STOP DOING ALL THAT SHIT YOURSELF! Find a partner that can do all the things you can't!

Mentor 2: Do NOT partner up! It's YOUR business and you'll always butt heads! Just go on Odesk and outsource everything besides content creation.

Mentor 3: You need to learn to do all of that yourself FIRST. And it's gonna suck and you're gonna hate it...and then you're gonna know exactly how the system functions so you can EVENTUALLY outsource all that shit.

Thoughts??

 

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[ilrein]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

 

[Jessica J]

I have my product finished and such...sales copy done...anything content related on my end is done and am now figuring out how to create a membership area and integrate that with my shopping cart and email marketing platform to eventually launch my product.

So I'm mostly hearing from others, "Just hire a programmer" or "Just outsource that shit!"

 

[ilrein]

Alright so, you have a product, and you have sales copy.

You just need somewhere to sell it online? I recommend www.shopify.com

Pay the small monthly fee, and stop burning yourself out trying to do EVERYTHING.

 

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[P3HSB]

You're not going to like this answer, but it is the honest truth. It doesn't matter which direction you take as long as you reach your end goal.

The world is not absolute, black or white. There is no right or wrong, only cause and effect.

60+40 = 100 but so does 90+10

Know what your strength and weaknesses are and then make the decision.

If you are weak in graphic design, outsource it.

If you are weak in programming/coding, outsource it

If you FEEL like you can DO IT, save some money, learn and implement.

Some things are not even that hard. Learn it and it will save you tons of money during the startup phase.

I'm just supposed to lone-wolf this shit until I know it all and can THEN outsource...

: STOP DOING ALL THAT SHIT YOURSELF!

so you can EVENTUALLY outsource all that shit.

Clean up your language. I use to say words like "sh*t and realize that the only thing I was producing was Sh*t. If you use words like "Outsource that

sh*t", chances are you are not really creating value, you are only creating sh*t and nobody wants sh*t. Have some pride and dignity in your work and

the world shall response positively.

 

[Jessica J]

You're not going to like this answer, but it is the honest truth. It doesn't matter which direction you take as long as you reach your end goal.

The world is not absolute, black or white. There is no right or wrong, only cause and effect.

60+40 = 100 but so does 90+10

Know what your strength and weaknesses are and then make the decision.

If you are weak in graphic design, outsource it.

If you are weak in programming/coding, outsource it

If you FEEL like you can DO IT, save some money learn and implement.

Something are not even that hard. Learn it and it will save you tons of money during the startup phase.







Clean up your language. I use to stay words like "sh*t and realize that the only thing I was producing was Sh*t. If you use words like "Outsource that

sh*t", chances are you are not really creating value, you are only creating sh*t and nobody want sh*t. Have some pride and dignity of your work and

the world shall response positively.

ACTUALLY I very much like your answer, math analogy, and rationale. THANK YOU!!!

 

[P3HSB]

ACTUALLY I very much like your answer, math analogy, and rationale. THANK YOU!!!

Credits to @MJ DeMarco. Saw his math analogy and was pretty impressed by his idealology.

 

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[Gale4rc]

Everyone has their own path to success. For many it involves having a co-founder and all the top incubators in the world suggest having one. People want to help you with what have worked with them but, it might not work for you... That's for you to figure out.

 

[Jessica J]

Credits to @MJ DeMarco. Saw his math analogy and was pretty impressed by his idealology.

I actually used this exact ideology in explaining dating to one of my clients today so thanks again regardless of where it's from =D [HASHTAG]#payingitforware[/HASHTAG]

 

[Esquire]

As I see it ... a partnership violates the Commandment of Control.

And the potential legal problems that can arise between partners ... are legion.

So my default answer would be ... go it alone.

With that said ... I'm not saying you should "never" partner up ... but if you are going to acquire a partner ... there had better be a damn good reason.

The last thing you should do is "partner up" for partners sake.

I think that's just plain dumb.

Or so goes my line of reasoning.

 

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[soltani.jalal]

CEOs dont do everything themselves. They take the time to understand the basics of everything and learn to recognize who knows their stuff in the area you are trying to fill and then hire them either full time or on a project by project comission. Sometimes simple projects can be done through odesk or fiverr. Sometimes you need to go to networking events and find the right connection. Its your business and it is good to start it alone but wont take off until you can bring others in.

 

[Iwokeup]

I've got a partner who exactly complements my weak areas, and I his. Of course, I've known him for over a decade and he's independently successful in his own arena, so that helps when it's crunch time for us.

 

[soltani.jalal]

Some people just need a passive investor other want a partner who has a vested interest and ownership in the company. Though they may be treated as stock owners they need to understand and accept that in the end you are the CEO and have the sole responsibility of guiding the company as a whole.

 

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[NicoleMarie]

I just partnered with a programmer. Yes we disagree (some say that's supposed to be good lol) but I do NOT regret it. My business is dependent on a website alone though, so that's different. If you have a product, you don't need a programmer as badly, if at all. There are tons of solutions with Shopify, Wordpress, whatever.

That being said, investors like 2 or 3 founder businesses for good reasons. I can tell you it'll be easier to get another business person on board than a programmer, as programmers are in high demand. Get as far as you can/as much market validation and customers as possible before looking for someone, because then you can give them a little less equity and can be more picky.

If you REALLY want to outsource programming that's not too major, you can always check Fiverr.

 

[soltani.jalal]

Or you can do it all yourself with wix.com. it is rediculously easy and looks really good also has a lot of handy business apps. Although as your company grows you will probably want to reinvent your website under a more customizable platform like magento for more analytics tracking and customizations and what not.

 

[The-J]

Lots of shit about partners on this forum, you can find it if you search.

Lots of shit on programming vs. outsourcing, you can find it if you search.

My verdict:

You're selling a physical product and want an e-commerce site. Websites are cheap. E-commerce sites are too, except you gotta pay for the platform. Getting a nice one won't cost you more than $1000, and if it does I'll have to wonder what you're selling.

I'd drop $1000 (or less) on getting the site built and focus on validating your product idea via ebay and Amazon.

PM me if you want a lead to a guy who knows his shit and can probably get it built for less than $1k.

Disclaimer: I don't run an e-commerce business, I've just built sites in the past.

P.S. Content creation can be outsourced too. So can copywriting. But if either of them is cheap, it's a waste of your money and time.

 

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[smarty]

Take the shortest path possible that will bring you the FIRST CUSTOMER. Until you get your first customer, you are NOT in business.

 

[biophase]

Mentor 1: STOP DOING ALL THAT SHIT YOURSELF! Find a partner that can do all the things you can't!

Mentor 2: Do NOT partner up! It's YOUR business and you'll always butt heads! Just go on Odesk and outsource everything besides content creation.

Mentor 3: You need to learn to do all of that yourself FIRST. And it's gonna suck and you're gonna hate it...and then you're gonna know exactly how the system functions so you can EVENTUALLY outsource all that shit.

Thoughts??

I side with mentor 3, but it really depends on the type of person that you are. Are you the type that is never happy with outsourced work and feel that you could have done better? Then getting people from fiver and odesk will just frustrate you.

I personally would never partner up. I just don't have the proper work ethic to get along with someone else. It also depends alot on the type of work that is being done. If I'm the strategic innovator and my partner is the coding guy. It will look like all I do is sit around in exotic locations while he works his butt off coding night and day. I can be sitting on a beach all day and still thinking and doing work, but to my partner it will begin to look like I am slacking off.

Also, you never know... your company can blow up and be worth $1m later and you gave 40% of it to a guy to do the coding. Was he worth $400,000?

There are some things that you must absolutely farm out. You will know what they are when you get there. But until then, treat everything like you have no funds to pay someone and learn as much as you can along the way.

 

[David P]

I have my product finished and such...sales copy done...anything content related on my end is done and am now figuring out how to create a membership area and integrate that with my shopping cart and email marketing platform to eventually launch my product.

So I'm mostly hearing from others, "Just hire a programmer" or "Just outsource that shit!"

Try this for size :

http://www.infusionsoft.com/

http://imember360.com/

Same company, does it all for you. If you thought of something, there's a very good chance,
something exists that you can use, without the programmer, for now. Even if its just to test
but go and test, then know what you need, not think you know what you need.

Good luck,

D

 

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[healthstatus]

figuring out how to create a membership area and integrate that with my shopping cart and email marketing platform to eventually launch my product.

As Self Proclaimed Mentor#4: Buy existing stuff that does what you want and install it. Thousands and thousands of websites do exactly what you want to do and there are plenty of companies that will sell you the software that does this very thing, most of the bugs are gone, most are highly customizable, most talk to lots of payment providers, don't reinvent the wheel.

I outsource A LOT, but there is plenty of stuff on the shelf that you don't have to custom code and go through the debugging and all that.

Also, if you are handling peoples payments, never write the code yourself as a newbie coder, that is just asking for trouble.

 

[csalvato]

Before partnering up with ANYONE, I would highly recommend you create a "Mastermind group". An "inner circle" of people who share your goals and desires. With that group, you will get much more than any one particular partner can provide - and it wont cost you a lick of equity unless you guys want to explicitly partner on the EXECUTION side of things.

There is mutual benefit, as other people will be able to capitalize on your knowledge and experience. Make sure you let that knowledge and experience be known when you ask people to be in your mastermind group.

I have been in a group for the past 4 months and it has helped me immensely. I provide my experiences from sales, selling vaporware, creating online businesses, running some paid traffic and successfully generating leads using SEO. Others in my group provide their own experience. We all win. I wake up every Tuesday at 1 AM my time (british time) to join my American colleague in our group. It's worth it.

 

[qvantage]

Every person have unique thinking so you should know about yourself. According to me, you can do sell your products online wihout any partner help. I think start-up of any business is difficult once you have started then you will not realize any hassle. So don't waste your time and get help from internet.

 

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[Ninjakid]

Here's a perspective. Everything you do is outsourced already, unless you have a conglomerate with a monopoly on all this stuff Someone else is responsible for the server that's going to run your website, your computer was manufactured by someone else, and so is the search engine that people will use to find your website. And once your business grows, there's no way you will be able to handle it all by yourself, so you will need employees/interns/worker-bees to handle the grunt work.

As a techie myself, I love programming and tinkering with shit; but I understand that there are some people who would rather shoot their self in the face. So learning all the sth can be hard work, but if you are absolutely dreading the very thought, I recommend you outsource it.

The flip side is if you decide to give someone else a major role in your company (like this person does all the programming grunt work), MAKE SURE this person is someone you ACTUALLY WANT to be in business with. The worst thing will be giving someone like 40% of your company who you would replace in a second.

Partnerships, I don't like partnerships and there are only 3 people on this earth who I would enter a partnership with. But if you have one of those rare people and they could visibly contribute to their business, I'd say it wouldn't be a bad idea to bring them into the game.

So my stance: Learn and be able to do as much as you can handle. If you need to outsource some, go for it.