Building Support Takes Consistency

This week’s Business Question of the week was sent in by J. Forbes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

How did you locate your support? What’s your sorting process?

Omar Tyree Answers:

That sounds like a three-part question. First, you have the public and consumer Support for your products and services, and then you have your Support of staff members, who help you to execute professional and company goals. But from the set up of your question, I’m assuming that you’re referring to the latter form of Support, where an entrepreneur or company builds their professional and supportive “team.”

Initially, I didn’t have a Support team at all. I paid independent contractors to do independent work, based on their skills and price. So, I paid book editors, artists, graphic designers, photographers, even folks to help me to ship boxes of books, all based on need. But I could not consider them a part of my Support “team” until I could count on them with regularity. And that’s pretty easy to do. Over time, those individuals who you can count on will still be there for you.

I began to call on the same people to do certain jobs. And the next thing I knew, I had a constant editor, photographer, and airbrush artist, who I could count on every time to perform to my liking. Then I attracted a literary agent, who became a teammate based on her success at being able to land major publishing deals. After that, I attracted a lawyer, who went out of his way to Support my new goals of creativity and business expansion.

As my own success story rolled forward, I attracted an events manager, who joined my team based on his ability to book paid speaking events. Then I linked up with a financial wealth manager, who wanted to help me raise the finances that I need to bring my books to life on the silver screen. And once I started my nonprofit literacy program, I began to attract Support members who are ready and willing to help me raise funds to teach kids the importance of reading. But we’re talking about a period of over 17-years. And the Support team continues to grow.

So, the reality of The Equation of building Support is that it takes time, accountability, and trust for you to know who works well with you. There is no short cut around that. Your “team” will be based on who you continue to attract and work with consistently toward success. Many other relationships will fall apart based on clashing personalities and or unsuccessful goals. And every individual entrepreneur is forced to find out, in their own time, who will be and will remain a consistent line of Support in their endeavors.