Behind every great entrepreneur is a great team.  We’ve all heard of the saying “teamwork makes the dream work”, but who exactly should be on this magical team? Earlier this month, the Boss Women Media team spoke at an event about the must-have people every entrepreneur or side hustler should have in their corner.

The days of trying to do everything by yourself are gone. Level up and get people to help you in the areas that are not your strong points. Not great at email marketing? Get someone to help.  Not the best at customer service, have someone help manage that too!

Outside of the daily tasks needed to run the day to day operations of your business, here are 5 other must have people to have on your business team.

1. Lawyer

Contracts, Trademarks, Copyright infringement, etc.  All of these terms seem fairly simple until your brand is hit with a cease and desist letter from a potential competitor.  While your case might not be as extreme, having a great lawyer on your team can go a very long way. However, put this in your business budget as costs can be pretty expensive.

Think of your network of family and friends to see who could possibly help or refer you.  Take advantage of any business Facebook groups you are apart of and ask for referrals. Most of the time your next great connection is about 2 degrees of separation from you.  And most importantly, make sure the lawyer you seek practices the type of law you most need help with in terms of your business.

2. Accountant

In the words of Jay-Z, “Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t!”.  Having absolute financial confidence and knowing your numbers is crucial to business success.  Sadly, this is also where a lot of entrepreneurs fall flat. Profit margin, cost of goods sold go in one ear and out the other.  Sometimes, we are so blinded by our passion that we think everything will work out because we believe in our ideas so badly.

Understanding your financials can not only help you make better business decisions but also validate all of your passionate ideas. Seek an accountant that will help you set up and develop the three basic financial statements for your business.  Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Statement of Cash flows. If you do not prioritize understanding where your business stands financially you will never know if your business is growing or shrinking.

3. Mentor

Often people make the task of finding a mentor harder than it has to be. People are enamored by famous celebrities or influencers and believe having them as their mentor will immediately yield success. Mentors, however, can be someone as simple as a close friend, a co-worker or someone you in your same field for which you’ve built a relationship.

Relationship building is the key part.  You want someone who you feel comfortable with opening up to about your darkest worries and someone who will keep it real with you when you are messing things up. If you can seek someone younger than you to be on your business team as well.

4. Tax Advisor

If there was only one person to choose from among this list of people you need on your business team, a tax advisor is probably the most important.  The pros of having a professional tax advisor are endless. Tax returns can be difficult and depending on your industry extremely complicated.

With a professional tax preparer, you can reduce errors on your tax filings, get professional tax advice and avoid consequences on things you declare are true in your filings. Although outsourcing your tax services wills ave time, remember to still take ownership for understanding everything that going on with your business.

5. Friend

True friends make everything better.  Sometimes when everything seems to be going wrong you need a solid support system in your corner to keep spirits high.  Entrepreneurship is hard. Running a business is hard. There will be days when you question everything you have ever done.  There will also be days where you feel like quitting and starting completely over. Make sure your friend circle is tight. Cling to friends that hold you down in your hardest moments and cut out people who do not wish you well.

What other must have people do you have on your business team? Comment and let us know!