5 Important Qualities Every Business Partner Should Have
By Paul Esajian on October 9, 2017
The right partner can help grow your business like nothing else. They can provide financing, advice, marketing expertise and even mentorship. Instead of weighing every important decision on your own you will have someone around you to bounce ideas off. You will wake up every day renewed and energized knowing that you have someone else on your team that shares your vision and goals. As great as the right partner is not all partnerships end in bliss. What may seem like a perfect fit at a networking meeting or after working together on a deal can end up being a nightmare. With the wrong partner you will end up constantly arguing and fighting about everything and you will walk around on egg shells. Instead of being in a productive environment the exact opposite will be the case. Before diving into a partnership, you need to know exactly what you are getting into. Here are five important qualities that every prospective partnership must have.
- Trust. Trust is the pillar behind every successful relationship, with partnership being no different. It should go without saying but you need to fully trust whoever you are working with. If you do not trust that your partner is properly handling finances or talking to people the right way you need to reconsider working together. Trust is something that takes more than just a few conversations or even a transaction to develop. You need to have multiple discussions about strategy, goals and execution. You need to find out as much as you can personally about your partner and see if there are any skeletons in their closet. A partner doesn’t have to be a lifelong friend or someone you have worked with for years but you do need to be able to fully trust them in every aspect of the business.
- Value added. All parties involved in a partnership should bring something of value to the table. It is not enough to simply enjoy being around someone. They should do something different, or better, then other people on your team. If the partner doesn’t add value to a deal or to your business you need to consider working together. A prospective partner may be good with money or have access to large amounts of capital. They may be a skilled contractor or have the inside track for local bank owned properties. Whatever it is there must be a value-added reason for working together. This works for both sides of the coin as well. You need to add something appealing to the partnership. It is not enough to find one deal or have one good idea. For a partnership to last there must constantly be a reason that both parties want to work together. The minute that either side doesn’t see the value in working together it is just a matter of time before the partnership ends.
- Personality. Personality isn’t the main reason for working together but it should at least be a consideration. You should enjoy the others company and want to be around each other. If you despise being in the same room there are plenty of other people to partner up with. This doesn’t mean you should agree on every aspect of the business. Some of the best partnerships happen with people who have completely different views on things. As long as the personalities mesh you can have productive discussions and move forward. If things go as planned in your business there is a good chance you and your partner are going to be around each other for hours daily. Even if you aren’t physically in the same place you are going to talk, email or text multiple times every day. If you don’t like your partner you will roll your eyes or avoid their call whenever you can. You and your partner don’t have to be best friends but you need to enjoy the others company.
- Respect ideas. One of the best parts about being in business with other people is the ability to share ideas. Instead of viewing a situation or the business one way your partner can help you see things you may have never thought of. Some of these ideas may seem outrageous to you but they need to be respected. If you can’t respect the fact that you partner has different ideas than a partnership may not be for you. You don’t have to agree with everything they say or do but you need to always respect their ideas. You should be able to constructively criticize each other without taking offense.
- Communication. You should never be afraid to say what is on your mind to your partner. If something is bugging you or you don’t like the way they handled a situation you should feel comfortable saying something. You should also feel comfortable if they want to say something about you. The best partnerships in any business have thick skin and the ability to freely communicate. In any relationship the longer an item goes without being addressed the worse the problem becomes. Something unaddressed that bothers you about your partner can slowly snowball into something much bigger. All parties in a partnership need to have the green light to say what they want, whenever they want to.
The right partner can completely transform your business almost overnight. It is not enough to get into any partnership you should look to find the right partner.