Now What? - How Do You Start Building Your 'Million Dollar Idea' Team?

By Tom Hasker, Associate Partner, Lighthouse International

Imagine an intrepid engineer, who has a multi-million-pound idea that is going add huge value to everyone in the world! He has the designs, the plans, and because he has read the article "So You've Got Your Million Dollar Design Idea - Now What?" (which you should too if you haven't already) 🙂 he knows how to avoid the E-Myth, The Entrepreneurial Seizure, as he now knows how to build a team. A team that will have access to every resource his idea will need, in order to become a reality.

This is great! He is now working on the business, not in it! This means the business will one day be able to work without him, and he can concentrate on making new products, possibly another business or important relationships! 🙂

Questions & Fears!

However, for now, there are many questions to answer! How do I find the right people to work with? Where do I start? How do I make this happen and what direction or which opportunity should I take first?! It can feel like being lost on a foggy hillside with the dusk looming and time running out.

One of the most crippling thoughts may be around sharing the idea with other people and asking the question; "Can I trust them? If it is such a good idea, what will stop someone else from copying it? Can I trust another person with my baby of an idea? If only there were people around me who were as passionate as I am about this idea!" the engineer asks himself. This short video from entrepreneur Debbie Travis, expands on the idea of how to make sure you have the right people around you - people who have different skills to you. That way you have a team that is passionate about all areas of your organisation, not just the idea.

Then there is the challenge of educating people about the idea, especially if it is a big one!

Leadership Is Vital

When building a team, leadership is key. Give people a vision of what needs to happen, and inspire them to the degree that they can achieve it - regardless of their own worries and concerns. In this clip from the film Oceans 11, you can see the concerns and questions from the assembled team, around Daniel Ocean's vision to rob 3 casino's at the same time!

Find Guidance

It is not an easy task to lead a team into an ambitious project, but it is one that can be learnt. Does this come as a surprise? Our intrepid engineer has all of the fears, doubts, worries and more, as he tries to work out how to lead and bring a team together. What he has actually stumbled across is his first resource need - guidance. As he has learnt, behind every resource need, is a person he needs to know and know well. In this case, that person is a mentor.

For example, Henry Ford was mentored by Thomas Edison in order to build his 'horseless carriage'. Richard Branson was mentored by the late Freddie Laker in establishing his airline Virgin Atlantic. The most important realisation a would-be industry leader can make, is that they need help - otherwise the project will not succeed.