Key factors to consider when looking for the right business partner
As an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, you may feel that you’re all too capable in choosing the right business partner for your new business venture. You may even be likely to choose someone based on pure chemistry you have when meeting someone during a networking session or business meeting.
However, you would be surprised when personality conflicts or practice start to clash and it would be no longer be any fun or productive when you finally realize that your leadership objectives or values don’t synergize with your business partner at all. Which is why it is always a good idea to take the time to conduct due diligence on your potential partner before heading towards an uncertain future ahead.
Here are some critical considerations for choosing the right business partner for you
1. Trust
Every good relationship, business or otherwise, begins with mutual trust. This is first on the list for an important reason. Do you trust this individual with your personal bank account? If the answer is “no,” it’s best to not engage with this person.
If a potential partner isn’t someone you can rely on, why bother choosing them to run a business? Being an entrepreneur requires time, effort, focus and tons of hard work. If you don’t consider this individual reliable and trustworthy, move on to the next.
2. Experience
A potential partner’s experience is an important factor because they need to be able to perform their job without you. Whenever you are out of the office, they should have the skills required to manage the company.
Think about what kind of experience you want your partner to have. Do you prefer that they’ve professionally partnered with someone before, or do you not mind if this is their first co-endeavour?
You should already have an expectation of what level of expertise is expected from them to contribute to the table. If it is your first foray into co-venture, it’s good to look out for someone who has done it before.
3. Vision
Why did you want to start this venture in the first place? Think about it for a moment and make sure that it’s what your potential partner wants as well. It’s strikingly easier to reach your goals and milestones when you and your partner are working towards it together.
Just like pulling a rope, if both of you are pulling in a different direction, all that it’s going to result in is tension between which of you gets the loudest say in what you want for the company.
To run smoothly, you and your partner must run the business together with the same ideas aligned. Otherwise, you won’t attain what you believe is a potential business goal that benefits everyone involved.
4. Money
Let’s face it, building a business isn’t cheap. You need a business partner who is financially stable. Money is the number one reason why most businesses fail usually in the first 2 years. It is also one of the most common causes of disputes between business owners.
If a person is bad at managing their own personal finances, this is a good indicator that they will be bad at managing your business finances as well. Moreover, if a person has a tremendous amount of debts, they will not be able to invest much in terms of time, money, or emotions when helping you grow your business.
5. Openness
You need to be able to discuss with this person everything related to the business. This does not necessarily mean that they have to agree with everything you say, but you need to feel that you are able to have different opinions, ideas or plans.
If finding a resolution to a problem seems impossible because this person is not open to criticism, then its better to avoid working with this person as there has to be a form of transparency when going into something as big as starting a business together. Communication is always key no matter what you do.
Choosing a business partner can be the best or the worst decision you make when starting a business. For some, it starts out exceptionally then without warning goes downhill from there, and for others, it is a match made in heaven from start to finish.
All the qualities above also apply to you as well! If you find yourself not being able to work out with a partner of your choosing, it’s also wise to reflect if you lack any of the criteria mentioned that is important when starting a business venture with a partner.
