by Homerun Nievera, Negosentro.com |
Having a business partner brings along certain risks, but it’s also very beneficial for the company. If you and the potential partner share the same vision and have similar expectations, engaging in partnership is certainly a great idea. However, before you start running the company with another person, it’s important to be completely sure that this person is the right one for your company’s future.
Complement Each Other
The best partner is the one that fits you like puzzle pieces fit each other. It would be best if your partner could compensate for your potential lack of knowledge in a particular subject, and vice versa. That’s why it’s important that you both know about each other’s shortcomings. If you’re both not so good with data, but like talking to customers instead, chances are your business won’t blossom the way you expect it to. Therefore, it’s vital that you are well aware of everything your partner is both good and bad at, before you decide to put your company’s future into their hands.
Share the Vision
It’s very important that you and your partner are on the same page when it comes to your company’s business. If both of you believe a certain goal should be set for the next period, your company will prosper very soon. However, if you don’t have the same ambitions, the business will go down the drain very fast. Furthermore, it’s of great importance that both of you believe in your company, because that means that you will both put an equal amount of effort into building it and making it prosperous.
Systems of Support
In order to have a successful partnership, you must establish proper mechanisms that will help you monitor, evaluate, and eventually improve the partnership. Each of the parties should have a person who’s going to monitor the relationship and how it influences the company’s work. After they’ve spent enough time evaluating you, they’ll be able to suggest some further actions and bring to your attention some certain problems if they have encountered any. Therefore, be sure to establish a governing board that will keep the partnership sturdy and point it to the right direction.
Have a Plan B
Sometimes things simply don’t work out. No matter how much you and your business partner may have in common, and how strong believes you share or how much you’d like the company to succeed, sometimes the pressure is simply too much for you to handle. That’s why you should always have a back-up plan, so that your company wouldn’t be at risk of bankruptcy. This means you should think about signing a contract that will protect both you and the company’s assets.
Take Care of Your Partner
Sometimes your partner won’t be so present at the company, but rather travel back and forth from one city to your company’s. This is also one of the options you could or couldn’t agree on when you decide to step into a partnership. Sometimes partners like to invest and occasionally visit the company, but leave the work to the executives. That’s why you could make your partner’s arrival comfortable by renting some of the best corporate cars in Sydney, and let them have a pleasant drive to the hotel, company or anywhere they’d like to go. What’s more, you could also prepare a warm welcome for the partner in the form of a complementary package; you’ll show them that they’re important to you and that you care a lot about your partnership.
Forming a partnership is a huge step for your company, which is why you should be careful when choosing your partner. Be sure you share the vision, complement each other, care for one another and care for the company as well. However, always have a back-up plan prepared in case the partnership doesn’t last as long as you might anticipate.
—
Homerun Nievera is the publisher of Negosentro.com and WorldExecutivesDigest.com. He has interests in several tech and digital businesses as director and chief strategist.
Homerun is a digital evangelist, content marketer and lifelong learning advocate. Homerun is the “He Said” in the popular Facebook Page He Said, She Said.
