Building a business takes a lot of work. Having one or several business partners can lighten your workload, plus take off some of the financial burdens that are a natural part of business ownership.
Every partner needs to be willing to work cooperatively to make the business successful. There’s no room for egos or hurt feelings when it comes to something as important as your business.
Being able to work together to do what’s in the best interest of the company is the heart of a business partnership, and it’s what makes the relationship between partners so important.
The Keys to Building a Successful Business Partnership
Like any relationship, a business partnership is one that shouldn’t be entered into lightly. All parties need to be ready to commit to the relationship entirely. Here are some of the keys to building a successful partnership.
Personal Compatibility
Business partners don’t need to have the same skills and personalities. In fact, it can be better for the business to have partnerships with people who have different viewpoints and expertise than you.
However, you do need to be compatible with your partner. That means that all partners need to be open to hearing new ideas and discussing differing views. If you aren’t compatible with your business partners, you will have a difficult time making decisions and building a successful business.
Shared Vision
Before coming on board as a business partner, all parties need to share the same vision for the company. This way, every partner can actively work toward achieving the same goal.
This includes investors who may be vocal about how they think you should be spending their money. When all your partners and investors are hungry for reaching the same goal, you will be able to make decisions and spend capital in ways that work toward meeting the same purpose.
Understanding of Strengths and Weaknesses
Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Understanding what those are for your partner(s) is the best way to delegate tasks quickly and get things done. One of the main benefits of having business partners is that you can focus on the elements of the business that are within your wheelhouse and delegate the rest. Your partners will want to do the same.
Be open and honest about every partner’s strengths and weaknesses, so everyone knows who can handle which types of tasks the most effectively.
Clear Expectations
It doesn’t matter if you’re going into business with your best friend or someone you have only recently met. You need to agree on roles and responsibilities early on, and you need to get it in writing.
Having a clearly articulated explanation of who is responsible for what aspects of the business allows partners to take ownership of the elements of the company that align with their skillset. This can reduce arguments and enable partners to focus on their areas of expertise instead of trying to tackle a little bit of everything. It also helps your employees understand who to talk to when they have a question or problem in a particular area of the business.
Mutual Trust
It’s incredibly hard to do business with someone you don’t trust. Make sure that mutual trust is in place before agreeing to any partnerships. All individuals involved must be able to trust each other’s decisions, knowing that everyone is working toward the same goal and is making decisions that are in the best interest of the company.
Patience
We all would like to see our businesses succeed right now, but companies don’t grow overnight. Patience is a virtue for success in business. Your business is going to go through its ups and downs. All business partners need to understand that the ride will be tough at times, and they should know that being patient and working together is critical for achieving your shared long-term goals.
Communication
Whether your partner works by your side day in and day out or is on the other side of the world, you need to be in regular communication about the business if you want to succeed. That means discussing the hard things, like losing revenue, as well as the wins.
Be clear in your communication and avoid vagueness. This goes for written and verbal communication. Everyone should leave every conversation or meeting knowing where the business stands and what they are responsible for.
Bottom Line
Having business partners can help you grow your business. When you have partners with skills that complement you who are excited to work toward the same goal, you can spend your time focusing on the areas of the business that align with your strengths and trust your partners to help you work on the rest.
Building a business takes a lot of work. Having one or several business partners can lighten your workload, plus take off some of the financial burdens that are a natural part of business ownership.
Every partner needs to be willing to work cooperatively to make the business successful. There’s no room for egos or hurt feelings when it comes to something as important as your business.
Being able to work together to do what’s in the best interest of the company is the heart of a business partnership, and it’s what makes the relationship between partners so important.
