RESOLUTIONS & REALITY

Be Like Dan Davis. Ask For Help.

JoAnna Bennett

JoAnna Bennett, O’Brien Communications Group

6 December 2018

A man, we’ll call him Dan Davis, was an entrepreneur. By the age of 32, he’d been able to build a software company and to become gainfully employed by that company. He also had more than 50 employees that depended on him to support themselves and their families. And because of the type of guy Dan was, he took that responsibility seriously.

He knew the ins and outs of his software. He learned the process of selling it, implementing it, and using it. He even conducted the onboarding process of each employee. If you asked him why, he’d tell you that he liked to personally interact with each new employee and wanted to be kept up to date on changes that occurred on the ground floor of his operation. Even with all he had going right, he was running into some issues that seemed to be beyond his control.

If he had to name two of the hardest things for him to do, they would have been (1) speaking about himself in a proud manner and (2) explaining his company’s story and product offerings in writing. With his technical background, he was able to create a website and lay out simple ads. But there was always something mechanical and amateurish about what he created. And without fail, every sales call always started with, “Who are you?” and “What do you do?”

Being astute enough to know that he wouldn’t be able to grow his company to the extent he wanted to without help, Dan did what most company owners don’t. He looked for that help.

Another thing to know about Dan is that he was a Benjamin Franklin enthusiast. And he often chuckled at how relevant Ben’s quotes were to his modern-day trials and tribulations.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about. – Benjamin Franklin

Moral of the Story: One thing I’m sure we can all agree on is the unmanageable task of being a jack-of-all-trades and the fact that it usually unfolds into being a master-of-none. We all have different motivations, desires and strengths. If we feel like there is an area where we could use some help or guidance, we’ve got to be open to the experts in those areas.

As the new year creeps closer, let’s learn from Dan. Let’s not try to make resolutions that fall solely on our own shoulders.

Let’s reach out for help when we need it.