Startup Guide: The importance of a Co-founder

If you are thinking of going solo in your Startup journey, you probably need to re-think it. I mean, I know that there are a couple of reasons that going alone might sound appealing. For instance, you will have a complete (100%) control of your venture. You will also have complete control of decision-making. But, let's face it. You are not a south Indian hero with the movie title "One Man Army". Thus, a co-founder does sound appealing.

There will be times when your venture needs specialisation, or moral support, or better ideas or a second opinion. In that case, when you feel lonely, you will need a co-founder. So, here are five pretty good reasons to convince you why you need a co-founder.

Make better decisions

We know that problems are going to come up -- no need to beat a dead horse. The issue is that you’re going to need the perspective of another person that understands your business as you do, and that person can only be a co-founder.

On the other hand, Only when there are more people to talk it out with will you know how good or bad your ideas are. Your friends and family will stick to just advising you. Your advisors are not your partners. They won't keep the gun on their shoulders, but a co-founder can help you press the trigger and take the fall for the decision as well. Only a co-founder can help in making decisions.

Double your odds

While having a business partner is not as cool as having a clone of yourself running around, it certainly doubles your odds of being in the right place at any given time. For example, you are in an event addressing your product, and at the same time, your potential investor wants to talk to you. Having someone you can trust to represent your business with the same level of integrity and passion as you is a huge advantage.

Divide workload

If you are a single founder, you’ll hardly get a moment to breathe. You will all round the office, miss on family and life. And if you fall ill, no one else can really take your place.

It’s only human to feel tired and want a vacation. And as a single founder, things become complicated if you go missing even for a day. On the other hand, a co-founder will be able to stand in for your absence and can also give you your much-needed rest. This way, both of you will have each other’s backs all the time, in both health and in sickness!

Reducing the hole in your pocket

While bootstrapping your startup, you will make a huge hole in your pocket. Perhaps you were ready for this, but as time passes, this hole will turn into frustration. A co-founder will help you divide the expenses and perhaps even double your investment.

Balance of skill

Not everyone is born with extraordinary skills or is good at everything. And that applies to you as well. A business is not just an idea. It needs a huge backing of skills from marketing to accounts, coding, website designing, and talking to clients.

The list is endless, and it’s almost next to impossible for one person to handle everything to perfection. This is where the co-founder steps in, allowing the work to flow smoothly. You could divide departments according to your skillset and ensure that work gets done faster.

Are you concerned about giving up equity? Don’t be. Would you rather own 50% of something or 100% of nothing? Bring in a co-founder and still be your own boss.

(CiOL knows how important your dream business is to you. Therefore, we’ve come up with an all in one Startup Guide to help you turn your vision into reality. This will have articles from CiOL's writers, as well as Industry Leaders to guide you through the journey)