by David Andrew Wiebe | Dec 15, 2022 | Entrepreneurship
In business, Noah’s Ark is about having two of everything, because one of anything is a compromise.
Internet connections can go down. Hard drives can crap out. Superstar employees can quit. And if you don’t have a backup, you’ll have to rebuild the infrastructure you worked so hard to set up in the first place.
This is a position of compromise, and smart and experienced entrepreneurs don’t like positions of compromise. They like to address problems before they crop up.
Of course, you can’t know everything that’s going to happen before it happens. But if you have two of everything, it ensures that your business can continue to operate under fire, sometimes without interruption.
Monday morning, I was starting to feel the early warning signs of a flu. Like most illnesses that seem to pass me by, I didn’t think it was going to take. But it did. All the symptoms ambushed me last night – fever, chills, aches, headache, coughing, and runny nose.
Today hasn’t been a walk in the park, though I can be grateful that I’m about to wrap up my day before 10:00 PM, which is good for a Thursday.
But this led me to a key realization. I need a backup for myself.
Until now, I simply couldn’t see how I might be able to make this happen. Now I remember that there’s a lot of strength in partners and duos. When they’re banging on all cylinders, they’re not twice as effective, they’re able to accomplish so much more.
Today, I much rather would have enjoyed staying in bed than working for nearly 12 hours straight. If there was someone who had my back, I wouldn’t have had to do it all myself.
I see now that anything could happen, and if for whatever reason I couldn’t do the work, loss of income and reputation is unavoidable. If I have a trustworthy partner, we wouldn’t have to lose the revenue. We would simply spread it differently among ourselves.
Having a partner would also enable me to free up time and take on other projects. I bet we could find some better paying work.
I can’t do it all myself. I’m about as booked up as I wish to be. There’s no sense in trying to be superhuman all the time. A more sensible plan is to grow my team.
There will be a process to hiring, onboarding, and training, but I can see it being worthwhile if I can find someone I can divide and conquer with.
by David Andrew Wiebe | Nov 14, 2021 | Creativity
These days, I have four to five meetings per week discussing various collaborative opportunities. These meetings only last an hour, on average, and are quite productive. We find that we can get quite a lot done in an hour if we’re focused and clear on what we need to do.
These collaborations have led to opportunities in the publishing, entertainment, health and wellness, as well as the skincare and beauty industries. Some of this makes sense, I’m sure, based on what you already know about me, but I didn’t necessarily expect that I would be launching into the skincare industry!
Your collaborations will take you to new heights. They will make new, unprecedented opportunities possible.
That said, collaboration isn’t always the best idea. It’s certainly not a silver bullet.
I’ve had a handful of collaborations that were successful, but many others that were half-baked, and some which were total disasters. It’s always good to do your due diligence before entering a partnership.
But like it or not, the musical world is built on collaborations. Whether it’s songwriters, arrangers, composers, bands, co-writes, engineers, producers, managers, or otherwise, collaboration is going to form the foundation of your career activity.
And, of course, there are going to be opportunities to collaborate with other bands, radio stations, bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, and so forth.
To that extent, it’s worth being a good hang and being easy to work with. I know there are some well-publicized jerks out there, but when push comes to shove, attitude doesn’t fly. The music business is a people business, and if you can’t find your tribe, it’s going to be like treading quicksand. Burn enough bridges and no one will want to work with you.
And as with anything else, we need to prioritize the collaborative opportunities that make the most sense. When you’re first getting started, it’s okay to say “yes” more, but as your career train picks up steam, you’re going to want to be more selective.
Ultimately, collaborative opportunities should be sought out and pursued, because in a relationship where everyone is holding their own, 1 + 1 does not = 2. In the right relationship, your collective efforts will be multiplied.
