How to find the right business partner for your startup?- Startup series#3
Almost 60% of the start-ups fail because of the improper selection of a partner. If you choose a person who is lazy or knows nothing about your start-up or is selfish, as your partner, then your start-up is bound to fail.
So, you have finally decided to start a business. You also have thoroughly researched everything that you need, in order to make your start-up success and now you need to find the right person or partner for your start-up and let me tell you, this is one of the most important and most difficult things to do. Almost 60% of the start-ups fail because of the improper selection of a partner. If you choose a person who is lazy or knows nothing about your start-up or is selfish, as your partner, then your start-up is bound to fail. So you must choose your partners wisely, but don’t worry after reading this article you will know what you are supposed to do to find yourself a perfect partner.
Finding good partners is the key to success in anything: in business, in marriage and, especially, in investing.
– Robert Kiyosaki
Read – 10 business partnerships that went down in flames.
It is very important to choose the correct partners and have complete knowledge of the partnership act for your business.
I think finding a good business partner is much harder than finding a good life partner. So in this article, I am going to provide you some tips on how to select the best business partner for you.
The first thing that you must do is make sure that the person you are thinking of starting a business with possesses some very necessary qualities. If 80% or more of the qualities mentioned in the article you are about to read, are present in the candidate, then that person can make a good partner.
Read– The 12 qualities of highly successful people.
Now for the second stage: Take your time and analyze the nature and habits of the person with whom you are thinking of starting your startup. The right partner can assist you in growing your business while on the other hand, a wrong partner can completely destroy your business. But, before making a partnership with a person, you must discuss the below-mentioned terms right in the beginning.
These are the terms which you should discuss with your partner before going into a partnership:-
Common goals:
You must inquire your to-be partner about his goals in life. If the goals of you and your partner are not common, then don’t go for the partnership. It is crucial that you and your partner share the same vision and the same goals. For example, through your startup, you want to help billions of people by making it a non-profit organization. On the other hand, your partner solely wants to make billions of dollars through your business. Then this clash in the vision and perspective could destroy your business at a very early age.
Commitment level:
You must make it clear to your partner from the start that high commitment level is one of the most important traits of a successful business. You must discuss in advance how much time and efforts he/she is going to put into your startup. You will meet a number of people who only want to invest money and offer financial support to your business. But, they don’t want to get involved in the field work. They only want to enjoy a fixed percentage of profit at the end of the year. You must discuss and decide in advance the roles and contribution of each partner so that the burden of managing and growing the business does not fall on a single person.
Capital contribution:
Just make it clear from the start how much capital each partner will bring into the business. You can also decide a capital percentage which each partner will contribute to the business. Some people think that they can solely contribute the capital needed to run their business. So there is no need for a financially sound partner. But, that is absolutely wrong. You might know how much-fixed capital you need to start your business. But, you cannot calculate exactly how much working capital you will need to meet your daily business expenditure. So, it’s always better to choose a partner with a sound financial background.
Strengths and weaknesses:
Just ask your partner what his/her strengths or weaknesses are because no one is great at everything. If you both have common strengths and weaknesses, then the partnership with that person is of no worth. If you are weak at something and your partner is strong at the same thing then that is the formula for success and is the core of a beautiful partnership. Therefore, it is crucial to know each other’s strengths and weakness.
The partnership agreement:-
After discussing all the above-mentioned points with and finding a perfect business partner, the next thing you must do is: Make a partnership agreement with the person. First of all, you should have a complete knowledge of the partnership act of your country. You can read the importance of having a partnership agreement. Creating a partnership agreement is a vital task. You can prepare the partnership agreement online or by hiring a Chartered Accountant of your country.
You can also create your free partnership agreement at – ROCKETLAWYERS.
FINAL WORDS:-
Having a business partner that believes in your startup just as much as you do can help you achieve extraordinary results but you must be extremely cautious in choosing your partners because they can be your greatest assets or they can turn out to be your worst liability. Take your time while making a decision and make sure that you have found the right person for your startup.
Remember, “If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together.”
The next article in the ‘STARTUP SERIES’ will be on, ‘How to manage your team and become a great team leader?’
Watch this video on WHY PARTNERSHIP FAIL
