Co-Contributor: Entrepreneur's Confidant

In the year 2012, I acquired an office building in a prime area located in the heart of the city. At that time, the idea of shared office space was in trend. I wanted to ride with the wave and turn one of the floors of my office building into a shared working space.

We wanted to introduce our space to our city's business community in an unforgettable way. So, we decided to launch, our so called shared co-working space, with a "big" event. Our ideas about this special event was ranging from a simple gathering to a glamorous night out.

After much brainstorming and consulting, we decided to have a networking expo event at our facility just before the holiday season. We wanted to bring the happiness of holidays into the launch of our business centre. In order to entice people to attend our event, we wanted to invite dignitaries. One of our dignitaries was a very prominent person who would attract others to attend our event. We were not sure if he would show up.

We were hesitant whether we should invite this special guest or not. We were concerned that at the last minute he may cancel. We were worried if he didn't show up it will reflect on our reputation. In that case, the drawbacks of having the event might be more than the benefit.

With a hesitant mind, I went out with one of my Co-Contributors to discuss this issue. I comfortably opened up to him, with all my vulnerabilities about this event. I told him: "I badly need this guy, but I am afraid that he may not show up." After going much back and forth, he finally told me that: "if you do a good job, he will definitely show up."

This one sentence, from my Co-Contributor, made a world of difference for me. It boosted my confidence. His words convinced me that our special guest's attendance is dependent on our level of workmanship. So, we put all our efforts together to do the best we could.

We did our best and prepared for the event to the best of our abilities and our special guest observed our efforts and he did show up. Our event was so successful that to this day people talk about it. It became the talk of the town for quite some time.

All this would have not been possible without that one sentence from my Co-Contributor. First of all I am not sure if I would have invited our special guest and secondly even if I did, I would have been hesitant in my approach which could be easily noticed. As a result, the event might have not been as successful as it was.

We need at the very least one person, in our business, who we can open up and tell our true feelings. In business, we may act strong, but in our hearts of heart we may have fear.
Sometimes, we launch our idea showing full confidence, but we are not sure if it will work. We need someone who can tell us: "go for it" and convince us with confidence.

At the time of hesitation, which happens quite often in business, we need our Co-Contributor to help us decide firmly and profoundly. We may go back and forth between ourselves, but once we make a decision, we should be fully on board. This could only happen if we are fully open and transparent with our Co-Contributor. Of course, we can only be open and transparent if we see our Co-Contributor as our Confidant.

It is hard to be ourselves in most of our life circumstances. I understand that it is hard to open up to others. It is hard to open up in front of our partners, colleagues, co-workers, employees, etc. Sometimes, it is a conflict of interest and at other times we may be concerned that if we open up, it may jeopardize our position.

There are times, in our life journey, that we have been compromised when we opened up to others. As a result, we are very hesitant to open up and be ourselves with others. However, as an entrepreneur we need a person whom we can be ourselves with. No one can help us properly unless we are transparent with them. We need to put all our issues on the table so that it could be diagnosed candidly.

So as an entrepreneur, the question is not whether we need a confidant or not, but rather how can we find one. I would suggest that the best way is to position ourselves in a way so that we can play the role of a confidant into someone else's life. If we become a confidant for an entrepreneur, they will eventually become our confidant as well. It all starts with us becoming a Co-Contributor in someone else's life.

The role of a Co-Contributor as our confidant is quite crucial. We disclose our real issues with them. We feel protected around them. We feel that they will not judge us. We can be open in front of them and they will not disclose our weaknesses to others. More importantly, the best solution comes up when we are open with each other. If we have someone like that in our business, the chances of our success goes much higher.