A business partnership can turn a business into a history-making victory or colossal disaster. Knowing how to choose a business partner plays a crucial role in realizing the next-gen business ideas.
The right business partner can bring innovative skills and a value-adding experience. Alongside, they contribute to values, share the dream, entrepreneurial spirit, and vision. A partner should come free of baggage as well as add credibility and resources to existing endeavours.
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The power of the trusted partnerships
“Collaboration is a business strategy that integrates innovative partners seeking blue oceans.” – Jennifer Ritchie Payette
The crux to choose a business partner is to leverage their diverse skills and talents for business growth. The partnership must assure a sense of wholeness that is otherwise difficult to achieve alone.
Here are some of the sensational start-ups of all time that made history owing to their partnerships:
- Warner Bros. (1923): Sam Jack, Albert, and Harry Warner
- Hewlett Packard (1939): Bill Hewlett and David Packard
- McDonald’s (1955): Richard and Maurice McDonald
- Microsoft (1975): Bill Gates and Paul Allen
- Apple Inc. (1976): Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
- Google (1998): Larry Page and Sergey Brin
- Twitter (2006): Evan Williams, Biz Stone, and Jack Dorsey
And the list is endless. Inspiring!
Such magnificent partner pairs found elite companies that emerged as the most sought-after brands for the current generation. And not to forget, the millions of dollars investments their investors put in them because of their sustained trust.
However, there is also a flipside of businesses led by business partners. Entrepreneur reports that about 65 percent of high-potential start-ups dissolved because of continually unresolved internal conflict among co-founders. It clarifies that successful partnerships share certain key traits that contribute to their success.
Thus, if you are looking for a business partner, the task can be more than daunting. This article helps you with a strategy to choose a business that helps your ideas soar high.
Checklist to choose the right business partner
For starters, here is a checklist to find the right business partner.
Transparency: For a successful business run, all the members in the partnership must be transparent in their approach.
Trust to confide: The trust among business partners should be beyond any limits. A chain is as strong as its weakest link; so is the necessity for mutual trust among business partners.
Open & respectful communication: A successful business partnership creates an environment where all partners have equal rights to speak about their concerns, along with mutual respect for everyone’s views.
Mutually beneficial relationship: Partnership skewed on one side is rarely sustainable. A healthy business partnership must nurture a healthy and win-win environment for all partners. For long-term success, foster a transparent, mutually beneficial relationship between partners.
Mutual trustworthiness: Integrity and trust are two pillars of any business partnership. To choose a business partner, it is critical to check for a sustainable relationship that lies on the trust factor and the belief that both parties are working towards mutual benefits.
Accountability: Right partnerships can distribute and assign answerability to maintain the discipline essential to stay motivated. A trusted business partner stays accountable for any flaws and errors in the decisions, visions, and executions.
Ability to answer tough questions: A trusted business partner can answer difficult questions. To choose a business partner, check their enthusiasm in encouraging partners to have well-explained and documented answers to challenging questions that help handle contingencies.
Traits of a trusted business partnership
A business partnership must be a long-term journey. Here are some traits that help keep it sailing smooth:
Clear deadlock provisioning: To choose a business partner, ensure clear and strong provisioning is in place to overcome deadlocks on crucial issues. A transparent business partnership knows what happens next when such situations arise and how to resolve disagreements on critical issues concerning the management.
Value the spirit: The spirit of the deal once agreed upon should always be upheld. A clear understanding of the deal helps unwind it at a point when needed.
Establish a transparent pilot program: Chalk a way to reward all parties via a conspicuous pilot program by transparently sharing all metrics.
Draft a favourable outcome for both parties: Effectively negotiate to instil confidence in each partner that they are into a great deal. Offer the best negotiation and agreement and resist pushing agreements in your favour.
Strategize an unambiguous information flow: Clear communication instils trust. Have a detailed plan in place from the beginning to communicate problems and solutions effectively.
- Who is going to do what?
- Which channels to leverage?
- What to spell out at the outset?
- What is the role of each one in the business horizontals?
Form a Vested Value Clause: At times, the trust may not be strong between the parties in a third-party relationship. In such scenarios, the inclusion of the vested value clause helps build trust. It strengthens active partners if other partners do not reciprocate trust.
Make a way to dissolve when not the partnership is not working: Include a way out in your agreement should the collaboration fall apart. The plan must be such that it amicably dissolves the partnership if necessary to avoid lurching problems.
Benefits of choosing the right business partner
Working with an erudite and intelligent business partner changes the business dynamics. Here are the advantages of choosing the right business partner.
Boost for a start-up
Latching on to the right business partner can lead to a welcoming transformation of a start-up. They can share the workload and enrich the idea, thanks to their solid business acumen. A start-up with the right business partner could soon be at the helm of success.
Builds capacity to absorb human resources
Trusted partnerships last long. They create a sense of pride and inspire employees. Thus, when you choose a business partner of ample calibre on board, employees productivity can be manifold. And this is the foundation to build profound business scalability and capability.
Furthermore, working with a business partner encourages the division of labour and economies of scale by segregating tasks per competitive advantage, conserving time, and removing the duplication of efforts.
Adds diversified skills to the table
One of the reasons to choose a business partner is to introduce a brand-new niche or skill set to the existing business. The right business partner that hails from a varied background and experience enriches your current capabilities. Thus, leveraging a medley of skill sets unveils the idea to an additional dimension and avenue for performance and growth.
Evaluates and enriches ideas
Entrepreneurs face difficulties in maintaining objectivity while implementing new business ideas. The right business partner brainstorms the existing and new ideas, paving a straightforward way to success.
Unfolds networking opportunities
Networking is a key and fundamental aspect of any business growth. Networking with new people through personal and business networks can create new avenues of business opportunities.
Thus, one of the reasons to choose a business partner is to give the much-needed impetus to expand contacts, relationships, and connections to pull off your business.
Provides a new business perspective
For a business to grow, the decision-making process should be realistic. Hindrances such as emotions, too much confidence in decisions, ignoring or resisting feedback can hinder business growth.
The right business partner helps identify such limitations and motivates them to pursue new opportunities based on their exposure and experience, thus providing a faultless business perspective.
When do you need a business partnership?
Collaboration, partnership, and networking are potent mechanisms that catapult changes in any business through sharing diverse expertise and strategies. A trusted business partner can create the right motivation for you and your team.
Want to gain clarity if you need a business partner or not? Check if any of these apply to you.
- You are at the outset of a new venture and cannot attract talented employees.
- You may be finding it tough to realize the cash and gain the trust of customers.
- Maybe your competitors are making their way ahead of you in closing deals.
- You lack the budget and resources to step up your business.
- Want to take your technology to a global level by leveraging the state of art software solutions but don’t know-how.
Here’s also where a partner can speed up the capacity-building process to kick-start the business:
- You lack expertise in essential areas that may include and are not limited to technology, finance, sales & marketing, or operations.
- You have a blazing business idea but wish to garner more support and confidence to implement it and are looking for help to enrich and foster your business model.
- Your business idea is complex and needs extended expertise, knowledge, and ingenuity to handle.
- You are keen to step up your business to the next level by working with a business partner with the requisite exposure and successful track record, fill in the gaps, and strengthen your position in the market.
- You intend to put your business on a safe path by collaborating with brilliant business minds that add value to your business.
How to find a business partner?
People love to proceed into business with a trusted and established business partner with a better market value. The digital boom opened up a multitude of options to choose a business partner.
While the ever-green in-person networking will always be in vogue, the internet and social media, online searches, networking websites can source new business relationships.
Someone you know and already in touch
Many entrepreneurs prefer friends, spouses, family members, or close acquaintances because of the trust factor. But there are certain downsides attached to partnering with known buddies; however, they may not always apply.
What to do:
Network with potential like-minded business professionals at industry-specific events and conventions.
Meet people online
Social networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and online discussion forums are potential sources to find business partners. Business success and trusted partnerships take time, so refrain from making hasty judgments from online contacts.
What to do:
Research the profiles, interests, businesses, and investment portfolio. Meet in person and have a candid idea exchange.
The Bottom Line
Finding a trusted business partner is one of the uphill business decisions. They can be cardinal assets or nightmares. Thus, incisively analyze why and when you need a business partner. Settle with one who fits the criterion mentioned above and embark on a fulfilling business partnership.
Who are we?
Cloudely is a premier Digital Transformation partner for global companies. Cloudely believes that boundless possibilities result from the inclusion of the right business partners. Its reach extends to Staffing, Quote to Cash, Contract Management, and Technology Solutions.
Having made our presence in the industry from 2013 and gained the trust of our global partners, we completely understand the business challenges. Whatever your business challenge is, we have the solution.
To choose us as a business partner, please email us at hello@cloudely.com. To understand us better, connect with us on LinkedIn.
