Making a business partnership work takes a number of different factors. Obviously, there is no single blueprint for success, but there are a few areas that you can work on. It is these few areas that will be explored in closer detail in the following blog post. This way, you can put yourself on the right track.
Share The Same Business Values
First of all, it helps if you know your business partner well. This way, you will be able to tell if you are on the same page with regards to your values. For example, do you both have a similar work ethic? Do you want to grow the business quickly, or are you content running a small company? It is worth establishing your goals to start off with to check if you are on the same page. After all, starting a business is bound to push you both to your limits, and you are going to experience times of stress. Therefore, you need to get things right to ensure that your relationship is not going to break up.
Put It In Writing
While the two of you may have such a good relationship that you feel like you do not have to put anything in writing, this is where disagreements can start to occur further down the line. You can then get into a ‘he said, she said’ scenario, which is damaging to the business as a whole. Then, if there are any issues, you have a clear document that you can keep referring back to.
Define Your Roles & Responsibilities
While you may go in with an equal level of investment, this does not mean that your responsibilities are exactly the same. For example, one of you may be a ‘sleeping partner’ who leaves it to the other to take control. Alternatively, one of you may take charge of an area such as sales, while the other handles all of the technical elements. You can make your roles and responsibilities clear on your website and your email signature from rocketseed.com. This way, it is clear to everybody. Each one of you has a different skill set which you can draw upon, and it is worth establishing exactly what these are. Once you have sorted out who is in charge of what, this will also help to prevent disagreements in the future.
Commit To Honesty
When times get tough, which they often do in business, you want to have somebody that you can rely upon to be honest with you. At the same time, you also want to feel comfortable expressing your feelings to them. If you sweep things under the carpet, it is more than likely that they are going to come back to haunt you at some point in the near future.
Hopefully, the tips above will help you to create the kind of long-lasting business partnership that really helps you to achieve the level of success you are looking for.
