Avoid Making This Mistake When Building Your 'Dream Team'

Featured: Chevann Grant - Founder of Jamwood Epoxy

While building a business involves surrounding yourself with a talented team...

There's a unique strength that comes with knowing how to do the work yourself.

This is the difference between building a team that lasts... and building one that crumbles under pressure.

While talking to Chevann Grant, founder of Jamwood Epoxy, he shared first hand insight on how his journey as a craftsman has shaped his approach to business and understanding of leadership.

Here's what Chevann Grant had to say:

Most things-if not everything-you have to do yourself at first.

For example, I make tree root tables.

And all those tree roots?

I dig them out of the ground myself.

So when I put a tree root on sale and list the price ($300,000 / $500,000), people always ask, "Why is that so expensive?"

And I think to myself... have you ever dug a tree root out of the ground?

Sixteen inches, twenty inches deep? It's not simple. It's not easy at all.

If I'm lucky, I can just roll the root downhill. But in other cases, I have to pull it uphill.

So I've learned that if I want something special, I usually have to do the work myself.

The other day, I went to St. Mary, just looking for potential pieces.

I saw this huge tree they had just cut down-almost as big as the van-and I asked them if it was available.

They said they weren't planning to use it.

It was just there on the side of the road.

So yeah, in this line of work, you have to do most, if not all, of the footwork yourself.

I'm not even a big social media person, despite being 25.

I'm simple. I like old things. Old-time music. I don't listen to the new dancehall and all that.

I'm a '80s and '90s music guy. I love playing my drums.

So, despite my age, a lot of people might assume I'm on TikTok or whatever.

I have TikTok, but I don't think I've clicked on it more than twice. So I'm putting myself in that position now, trying to get more comfortable and consistent with it.

Editing pictures, videos-that's manageable. That's not really a challenge. But the uncomfortable stuff? That's where you still have to do the footwork.

Take registering for a business, for example.

I see a lot of companies offering services to register your business, open your business bank account, and so on.

And while I'd love that convenience, I also love learning for myself. So if I'm not signing up online, I'll go into the office directly and learn everything hands-on.

And even in the future, when things become exactly what I want them to be, it's still about being hands-on, being observant, and being organized.

Finance, inventory, marketing... all of them have to be separate but together at the same time, if you understand what I mean."

The truth is, most people want to hire their way out of learning.

They want to skip steps.

They want a designer without ever learning design.

A content manager without ever writing a caption.

A VA without knowing what tasks actually matter.

And because of that, they build fragile businesses. Ones they can't control. Ones that fall apart the moment someone else quits.

That's why it's important to know how to do it yourself first.

Don't aim to master every role. But learn the roles. Feel the weight. Carry it. And delegate from experience.

That's how you build a strong team.

Until next time,

Daniel Mighty

The Visionary Gazette