Questions to Consider When Looking for a Business Partner

The right business partner can be instrumental in the success of any growing company. Your business partner can be your support system, your ally in starting your new venture and your confidant as you develop your business. However, the wrong business partner can do far more harm than good. If you are looking for an individual to go into business with, make sure that you start by considering these important questions first. There are many individuals who believe that they have found the right business partner and have either partnered with the wrong individual or actually don’t need a business partner at all. If you have been considering hiring a business partner, make sure you ask these important questions first before getting started.

Do You Really Even Need One?

There are so many people that enter into a new business venture assuming that they need a business partner. While business partners can provide you with assistance in running your company and with skills and resources that you may be lacking, not everyone needs a business partner. In fact, many of today’s most successful startups came from individuals not partnerships. There is no right answer to whether or not you need a business partner, but you should really think about your situation and whether or not you require the assistance of a business partner before you move forward.

Do your Skills Complement His/Hers?

When it comes to finding the right business partner, one of the best things to do is to determine if your skills really complement your partner’s. This does not mean only having the same skills or only having different skills, but also having the right balance between the two of you where you can both work well together and make up for one another’s weaknesses in certain areas. If your skills overlap too much it can create competition. If you are both solely creative individuals, you may start competing over whose creative ideas are the best. Overlap is fine, but it is important that you aren’t partnering with someone who is exactly like you.

You need to have similar values, goals and a similar work ethic, and it is important that you are on the same page with this person. While your skills can be different, these things need to be the same.

Are You Comfortable Splitting Ownership?

If you have been working on an idea for a business for some time and have made the decision to bring in a business partner, it can be difficult to decide to split ownership. Some people think they will be fine with this, until they hear a new business partner referring to the venture as “their” company. You need to really think about your emotions that are tied with this new business and whether or not you are okay with splitting ownership. There are a number of challenges that come with splitting ownership, but many benefits as well; you just need to be willing to determine if these benefits outweigh the challenges.

Is Your Brand Protected?

Before you enter into a business partnership you need to make sure that you are protecting yourself and your brand in the merger. You need to consider who you are partnering with and how this partnership will impact your brand’s personality and identity within the market. Make sure that your business partner understands your brand’s identity and what you have built up to this point. The right business partner is someone that will value and protect that identity and work to build it, rather than change it.

Questions like these can help you determine whether the candidate you are considering is the right fit for your upcoming venture and can help you truly determine who to partner with for your professional endeavor.