Looking for Your Next Business Partner

You’re a talented and innovative thinker planning to launch a ground-floor venture. Should you go it alone or bring in a business partner?

As we mentioned in our earlier blog, “Is it Too Much to Ask for the Perfect Business Partner?” a number of business pairings throughout the years have turned into great successes. Primarily because of the skills and traits each partner brought to the pair. However, a lot had to do with the actual relationship between the individuals involved.

Not Everyone Should Be Your Partner

This seems like an obvious statement. However, many people don’t fully realize the truth behind the words until they go into business with the wrong person.

A friend recently told me about a business venture he undertook. He, along with a long-time friend, approached a favorite single-location family-owned restaurant and asked if they could help expand the business to a second location. For a piece of the action, they would run the second location following the same standards that the family had set for the first site.

My friend had counted on the fact that his new business partner had the skills to open a restaurant based on his resume and talk. Unfortunately, things went south within a year when the long-time friend came up short on the skills he had to offer.

While my friend was able to rebound with support from family and friends, along with a new business partner that really showed he could deliver the goods, it was a tough lesson to learn.

Where to Find Your Next Business Partner

In the Forbes article, “Find Your Next Business Partner Now,” writer Ilya Pozin offers four factors to look for when choosing a business partner. Three of them – motivation, vision, and balance – go to the heart of running a successful small business.

The fourth, however, is all about relation or, more appropriately, proximity. Living nearby can make a big difference. Imagine how much more difficult it would have been for my friend if his first business partner hadn’t lived in the same city.

We emphasize that business partners need to have similar values and different strengths.

And that’s where networking becomes an important factor. Meeting people in your community, developing strong partnerships, finding the right business partner, and forming strategic alliances all help to support your business.

Let 3rd Eagle help you develop successful relationships to further your success and growth. Contact us today.

 

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