The 21st century is proving to be a golden age for entrepreneurs with exciting ideas who want to create their own independent business. The tools, the methods of communication and the culture of our society are now perfectly primed for ambitious people to take the risk of starting up by themselves. If you have a great idea, it is now more straightforward than ever to research it, to try to raise financing, and to launch your business into the world.
This doesn’t mean that it’s easy, nor that most people can manage to do it alone. Running a business is always going to be a collaboration, whether you’re dealing with employees or suppliers, or co-operating closely with clients. But there’s one figure in this network that requires a bit more consideration than most: your business partner. It’s one area in which you should not just trust your instincts, but apply serious disciplined thought to the decision.
Trust is perhaps the most important element of a business partnership. This does not, unfortunately, mean that you should automatically set up shop with your childhood friend or relative. Of course, you need to know your business partner well, and for long enough that you can be sure that they are everything that they claim to be. But if you set up with a friend, you run the risk that the things you have in common as friends will compromise your development as business people.
You need to make sure that a potential partner has skills and interests that complement your own. For example, if you’re a great salesperson but you struggle with the administrative side, you need someone who will take more responsibility for the back room stuff. If you’re super-practical but your imagination leaves something to be desired, team up with an ideas person in order to take your big concept to areas of which you might never have dreamed.
Once you’ve made that big decision, take steps to make it as safe a leap as possible. Even if you set up with someone you know well, you can never be sure how things will turn out in the long run, so make sure to create a written agreement that covers the good times and the bad.
For the full lowdown on how to make this monumental decision, have a read of this new infographic from The Business Backer. This is an exciting moment – make sure you’re as prepared as you can be before you make that jump.
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