For the first time in a long time I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.

This past month has brought many changes to my company. For one thing, I don't feel like I'm in this alone anymore. I've hired several people in the past year, and each time I add someone I feel more confident.

There is a certain lunacy to trying to grow a company alone -- I realize now. In fact, it's counterproductive. You can't bounce your concerns off someone when times are bad, which is dangerous because you tend to think the worst when there's no one else to bring you back to reality. Sadder still, when good things happen, there's no one to share the joy.

Today, I met with several people from Invision, the company that shares an office with StaffWriters and has become my strategic partner. We came up with the idea of pooling our resources and forming a sort of "Swat Team" to serve the marketing needs of very small businesses (and some midsize ones, hopefully). Typically, little businesses go to ad agencies, where they get taken to the cleaners. Some ad agencies turn around and use our services because we have access to writers. We charge them, then they charge their clients. The little guys don't know they're paying twice.

Since Invision is an Internet service provider and a Web marketing company, they'll be able to take care of all of their clients' marketing wants. Say Invision brings in a Web-site client. Obviously, they'd create the site, but we'd do the content. And while we're at it, we can do brochures and other marketing materials.

And since we're all in the same office, our presentations can be seamless. The team advantage works several ways. First, we can offer steady work to our freelancers (who'll also get commissions for referrals). More volume means we can give our customers lower rates. And once we tie down the specifics, every salesperson on Invision's staff will be selling for StaffWriters, too, and vice versa.

I'm a convert: A team strategy is vital if a business is to succeed. The minutiae of a growing business can enslave and eventually paralyze a solo entrepreneur. You're never free to plan where the business will go next. I know this because for a long time I made the same mistake. While others made multiyear projections, I couldn't see past next week.

Behind this shortsightedness is fear. Fear of losing the business because you're not paying attention to every little detail. Fear of failure. Closing a business is traumatic, financially and personally. The only failure, though, is the inability to use the experience to build on.

Then there's fear of losing control. Many entrepreneurs don't realize that when they micro-manage, their employees never get to run with a project. So they lose self-respect and become bitter. That cuts off the oxygen from the business. Admitting you don't know everything is the first step toward taking your company to new heights. Always hire people who do things better than you.

Forget the notion that you're the boss. Sure, you're passionate about your company because it's yours, but setting up a strict boss-employee company is sure to backfire as we head for the year 2000. That's pretty much out.

A company needs to work much like a family. If everyone is looking out for themselves, nothing gets accomplished, and tensions constantly run high. If you've discovered this already and live by it, you're very fortunate.

George Giokas is the president and CEO of StaffWriters Plus, a specialty agency that places writers in temporary and permanent positions with corporate and other employers. It also provides editorial consulting work. His database includes 2,500 writers and editors specializing in more than 60 categories. His Web site is located at www.staffwriters.com, and you can E-mail him at george@staffwriters.com.