Managing
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Build Your Business Partnerships Carefully

In the early stages of forming or building a business, you may face the choice
of whether or not to bring in a partner. And that may worry you, since you’ve
probably heard stories about business partners who could not get along and
ended up fighting for control of the company.

Studies show that two heads may be better than one. Businesses launched by
partners, rather than solo entrepreneurs, have a better chance of really taking
off, according to research by Marquette University’s Kohler Center for
Entrepreneurship.  Their study found that partners, not lone-wolf
entrepreneurs, started more than 90 percent of America’s fastest growing
companies.

Partners can share responsibilities and often bring different skills and
knowledge to the business. One partner may be great with numbers and
planning, while the other is a whiz at marketing and sales. Combining these
elements can open more doors and help the business realize more
opportunities more quickly than it could with only one person involved.

But conflicts between partners waste time and money, erode focus and
strategic direction, cause emotional and financial pain and destroy
businesses and reputations, says George Gage, a business mediator and
partnership expert with BMC Associates in Washington, DC.  Business
schools rarely teach successful partnering techniques, and without proper
preparation, partnerships are often doomed, says Gage, who has worked with
many warring partners.

Gage, who is also author of The Partnership Charter: How to Start Out Right
With Your New Business Partnership (or fix The One You’re In), lists seven
cautions that would-be and existing partners should consider:

1)        If you think you are not “partner material,” don’t take the partner path.  
2)        Use extreme caution when selecting a partner.
3)        If you don’t really need a partner, don’t get one.
4)        If it doesn’t feel good before you start, follow your gut and don’t do it.
5)        Don’t be fooled into thinking that legal agreements and documents will
keep you out of trouble with one another.
6)        If you currently have a partner, and it does not feel like a positive
working relationship, don’t just ignore it. Try to fix things.
7)        If there are unanswered questions or vague boundaries and
responsibilities with current partners, address these issues while you are still
getting along.

To learn more about partnership issues, contact SCORE "Counselors to
America's Small Business." SCORE is a nonprofit organization of more than
10,500 volunteer business counselors who provide free, confidential business
counseling and training workshops to small business owners. Go to www.
scoredm.org on the web or call (515) 284-4760 between the hours of 10:00 A.
M. and 3:00 P.M. Monday through Friday.