Well, that was a diversion!

Why do you think every company needs to have only one leader? What if the company has two leaders? Or three? If they share a common vision or dream, can’t they all lead the company where they want it to go?

I agree that having just one leader makes things easier (less conflicts and argument), but I’m not sure if it’s the only way things can work… It’s a hard question, I think.

I think you are right with the part of not making your company dependent on you. It’s important not to confuse making the company be about you and making the company depend on you. To me the first one means that the company represents who I am and what I believe in, while the second just means a lot of work ;)

Every company – be it big or small – has to have one leader, who’s visions and dreams the whole team or organisation are working to achieve. Every company has to have values, and at least the most significant persons in the company must have passion to what the company is doing or involved with.

But one thing I would like to say as a word of caution: Don’t make your company depend on you! You never know what happens in your life and what kind of situations you fall into. Always make sure, there is someone, who can do your job, if you personally can’t do it.

If you are the only one who can fullfill the promises you have made to your customers, things go bad if you suddenly have to take even a month long vacation, and don’t have anyone to replace you. That is something I have been learning lately.

There is one thing that I see a bit differently, though. When I say your business should be about you, I mean it in the context that I have been laying on this blog for the past six months: when your business is about you, to me it means that your business is about your values, about who you are.

So, for example to me, it’s important that I have time for my family. So, when I say that I want my business to represent who I am, I’m in fact saying that there should be room for my family in my businesses.

As a whole, I’m trying to move away from the idea that life consists of separate parts, and towards the idea that it’s one big chunk of things that define who I am. That’s why I want to have a business card on which I can occasionally write my title as “Dad” or “Husband”. But on which I can also write “Ruby on Rails Developer” or “Freelance Writer”, or “The Master of Universe” depending on what I’m doing at that very moment.

I know this sounds idealistic – and it probably is. I hope you guys as more experienced entrepreneurs and businessmen can tell me how that sounds to you.

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Then there’s the other question that I’m also thinking about: when a company like yours grows, could it work so that it’s about every employee in the company. It gets complicated, but in my idealistic mind I think it would be really cool to be running a company in which every employee can represent the group with their own personality.

In an organization like that a customer could talk to anyone in the company about his needs and ideas, and would always be treated in a friendly, personal manner. It would be a company in which your title wouldn’t matter, but instead the most important thing would be who you are.

This is something I’m thinking about, but don’t have any answer for yet. So, it would be “insanely interesting” to hear your thoughts!

life is good.

On the other hand. There comes a time when I wish people would stop calling me! I used to love being the man, the owner, the one everyone wanted to talk to. But as you grow, and you want to replace yourself so that you can be more balanced, or focus your energy elsewhere, that level of personal touch has to change a little. Otherwise you business is your life. Which isn’t all bad but from a friends like Jarkko who continually advocates a balanced life, full tilt boogie personal involvement is not always the answer.

So what is the answer?

No clue – I’ll tell you when I got it figured out.

That said, really one question here should be one of exit strategy:

Some day you will stop running this business. Will it be soon? A long time from now? Retirement? Quitting? Selling? Will you hand the business to your kids? etc… There will be an exit.

Given the exit, should your business be about you or something beyond you? Acme Templates? Solomon, Schmidt & Hendlemeir? Smith & Sons? Spamcorp? John’s House of Design…

I’m still not sure if we will out grow the name Shane & Peter. But even if we do, I can honestly say that we have debated it from the start and planned to do a rebranding if the company needed it.