Can you try to imagine who comes to your mind as your business partner?
If you think that having a business partner is what you and your business needs, you have got to consider a lot of factors.
It has many advantages, to which the disadvantages must be none.
You have to be sure of the compilation of business visions, missions, and goals your new business partner has to offer.
The decisions must be logical and very much realistic.
Compare your present situation with the business, and you need to know what value this person adds to scale the operation.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – Andrew Carnegie
Here are the 10 Tips you need to know before choosing the right business partner.
Background Check:
Make a thorough check of the potential partner on personal and professional levels.
It will give you a better idea of what kind of person you are going to be dealing with.
This will help you to know how he/she handles relationships as well as reveal the professional and business credibility and workplace relationships.
The objective of the background check should also ensure the security and safety of your employees.
The advantage of background checks also helps in understanding any issues present with your business partner.
This creates transparency and tranquility to avoid any unrelated business disaster in the future.
Personal Stability:
It is good to have a business partner who is not struggling with pressing personal issues.
If he/she is stressed out on the personal front, it is likely that you will not be able to get the 100% of input required for a new business venture.
Personal financial stability will ensure that the potential partner is more interested in making the business grow than in making money.
It will also decrease the temptation to swindle money off your back.
The key element to professional and emotional success is determined by the level of stability.
Not every time is a bed of roses in the run of your business, life happens in unexpected ways.
In order to challenge any shortcomings, you need to acknowledge how your partner can smooth the welfare of the business.
Vision and Objective:
Your partner should be someone who believes in your pipeline dream.
He/she should be able to envision your business venture the way you see it a few years from now.
Objectives are the short-term benchmarks you have for the business and your partner should share them.
Rely on the business partner who has the same mindset on your ‘why and how’ of the business.
Business Compatibility:
While it is good to partner with someone having a different field of business expertise, It is not advisable to have incompatible business differences.
The leadership styles and business dealing methods should be compatible, not necessarily be the same.
You should be able to have a good working relationship with your partner, which is impossible if you are going to be at loggerheads for basic business codes and ideals.
Complementary Skills:
For the business you are starting out with, you may not be having all the required skills.
Even if you did, you might not be able to give full justice to all the components at all times.
So, it will be more profitable and beneficial to have someone with complementary skills and different areas of expertise as a partner.
This will broaden your business scope and take a load of the burden off your shoulders.
Contribution:
There are fewer chances of a partner pulling out or being indifferent to business development if he/she has made a substantial contribution to the start-up, financially.
Where this is not possible, the contribution could be in terms of resources (location, infrastructure) or a strong business network.
Ethics and Integrity:
A person who is ethical in his/her actions and carries himself/herself with integrity in life’s every aspect, will not leave you high and dry without a valid reason.
Also, such a person will be easier to trust and will inspire respect.
Exit Strategy:
Though it sounds pessimistic to think about failure when starting a new business, it can’t be denied that every business is not guaranteed to succeed.
Just as it is better to be prepared for a fall before falling off a cliff, it is better to have an exit strategy in place before reaching an impasse.
One reason to do this is that, if you were to face a failure, you and your partner are not going to be clear-minded then, like you are now.
Any plan you make now will be unbiased and well-thought.
For an exit strategy, first, decide on how far into debt you are willing to go to save a business.
Then come to an agreement on how you will dissolve the business partnership if your business fails despite all the efforts you put in.
Rain Check for Worst Case Scenario:
Some other seemingly pessimistic scenarios you should be prepared for are
A partner’s sudden ill health, pull out, or circumstances due to which he/she will be unable to continue in the business venture.
These things should be made explicit so that one partner is not left stranded alone with the entire business responsibility.
Debt, divorce, or death are other things you should be prepared for, to avoid having unwanted and unfit business partners in the form of creditors, divorced spouses, or inheritors.
Personal Attributes and Beliefs:
Choose a business partner whose personal attributes you like (even if they are not a part of your personality)
and though it is not mandatory to have a business partner who believes in the same things that you do.
It is beneficial to partner with someone whose beliefs you would at least not look down upon.
In conclusion
Choosing a partner has to be very much right, your business is your baby. It is nothing more than a reflection of who you are.
Give time to yourself and think of the insights about your business in the present,
compare it to the past, then put your partner in the future goals.
When “I” is replaced by “we” even illness becomes wellness.