Three Game-Changing Strategies to Transform Your Business
Starting a business can be challenging, but it can also be an incredibly rewarding experience. When we founded Kindred Technology Group 10 years ago, we started with just $75 and a dream of being our own bosses. However, we quickly learned that we needed more than just a dream—and maybe a bit more than $75, but not much more.
Throughout this journey, several key strategies have helped us achieve our goal of helping people. Here are three of them that transformed our business:
1. Don’t Do It for the Money
Someone once told me, “Just focus on the work, and the money will come.” While that’s not entirely true, the sentiment is. When money becomes your sole focus, it can distract you and even make you resent why you started your business in the first place. Don’t misunderstand—charge for your services and keep an eye on the bottom line. But if you start seeing clients only as dollar signs, it’s time to reassess your approach. Whenever I focused too much on money, my creativity waned, and the quality of our service declined. As the Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Money itself isn’t bad, but making it your primary focus is. If money is the only reason you’re starting a business, I suggest you do one simple thing: Write down in one sentence how your business will help people. If you can’t do that, money might be clouding your vision—or you may need to rethink your business model.
2. Find a Mentor
When I say find a mentor, I don’t mean a formal process where you interview candidates and review resumes. Our mentor was someone we met at a networking event. He had a business model and vision we admired, and he was successful. Most importantly, he was willing to share his knowledge and listen to our ideas. We’d call him whenever we had a new business idea or were considering a new revenue stream. He was honest with us and wasn’t afraid to tell us when something seemed off or too ambitious.
3. Hire People Smarter Than You
This lesson took me a while to embrace, and I wish I’d adopted it earlier. Initially, I did everything—meeting clients, developing websites, designing graphics—and I quickly burned out. One night, while editing a CSS file, I asked myself, “Why am I doing this? Isn’t there someone smarter than me who can handle this?” The answer was a resounding “Yes.” From that moment, I decided to hire people who were more knowledgeable than I was and not fear losing control of my business. In fact, that’s when our business began to truly grow. Seven years later, we have a global team of experts working around the clock. I may not know the intricacies of Ruby on Rails, but I have team members who can write top-notch code while you sleep.
So, no mention of technology or cool apps here, though those are important. These three lessons were pivotal in transforming our business for the better.