When looking for a business partner, your goal should be to find someone who makes your new company stronger than it would be without them. Ideally, your partner will be looking for the same thing in you.
This means that you don’t necessarily want to find someone who has the same skills and strengths that you do, even though that can often feel natural. What is best is to find someone with strengths that you do not have, who covers up some of the gaps in your résumé, so to speak. If the two of you make up for different deficiencies, then you can have more success together than you ever would’ve had on your own.
What else do you need in a business partner?
But a difference in skills is not all that you should be looking for to find the right business partner. Here are some other qualities that can help make your business stronger:
- You share a vision for the future of the business and you have similar goals.
- You both work equally hard and care about the success of the business.
- You’re both willing to put in the same amount of time.
- You are willing to share the duties, responsibilities and obligations that come along with the business.
- You’re both willing to work as co-owners who jointly own the company, rather than one person always striving to be in charge.
It’s clear that finding someone like this is an important first step, but it’s not the only one you need to take. Remember that you also want to create an official contract between the two of you. This is known as a partnership agreement. It does things like officially dividing ownership of the business, creating strategies for dispute resolution and stating how people should exit the business if they choose to leave. You do need to have an understanding with your partner about how you’d like this to go, but it’s best not to just leave this as a verbal conversation. Getting it in writing protects you and the business.
Finding the right business partner plays a big role in how successful your company will be. After you find that person, be sure you know what steps to take to legally put a partnership agreement in place.
