Are you considering a partnership?

HERE’S HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT PARTNER FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Choosing the right business partner is a critical decision that must be carefully considered. Here are 8 points to consider:

1. COMPATIBILITY: Find someone who is compatible with you i.e shares your goals, values, and working styles. It is critical to have a positive working relationship with your partner and to be able to communicate effectively with them.
2. COMPLEMENTARY SKILLS AND EXPERTISE: Select a partner with complementary skills and expertise that can help your business succeed, for instance, you sell food and they sell drinks or you are a fashion designer and they sell fabrics.
3. FINANCIAL STABILITY: Look for a partner who can contribute to the business while handling financial responsibilities.
4. SHARED VISION: Ensure that you and your potential partner have a similar vision for the future of the business. This is very important else, the both of you will be moving different directions
5. TRUST: In any business partnership, trust is essential, so choose someone you trust and who has a good reputation.
6. PERSONAL CHEMISTRY: Consider your personal chemistry with your potential partner. Do you have similar personalities and enjoy working together?
7. CONFLICT RESOLUTION: Choose a partner who can handle conflicts and disputes professionally and effectively.
8. REFERENCE CHECKS: Speak with their family, friends, previous employers, previous business partners and anyone who you know has any form of relationship with your potential partner to gain a better understanding of their background and business practices.

By taking these factors into account, you can choose a business partner who will help you achieve your goals and lead to a successful partnership.

When you’ve decided on a partner or partners, you must do the following:

1. 1. Obtain the services of a Business Lawyer: Partnership is an extremely important business decision; therefore, it is critical to consult with a professional before making the decision. A business lawyer can help you with the following:
      • Formation and Documentation: Ensure that you have adequate documentation that defines the duties and responsibilities of all parties, as well as how profits and losses will be shared.
      • Dispute Resolution: When you start a partnership business, there will inevitably be disagreements. What distinguishes a successful partnership business from a failed partnership business is how they resolve their disagreements. Having a lawyer from the start will aid in the development of dispute resolution mechanisms, and the lawyer can also assist in mediating disputes between parties.
      • Dissolution: If you and your partners realize that the partnership is not working and want to dissolve it, or if you and your partner(s) believe it has served its purpose, having a lawyer assist in dissolution will ensure that the partnership is dissolved easily and without any problems ensure the profits and losses are shared as agreed.
   2. Try a “one-time” Transaction:
   3. Before investing heavily in that partnership business, try to do one or two transactions together. This will give you an idea of how the partnership business with that partner would be and will also allow you to decide whether you should stop immediately or build the business.
   4. Outline Each Partner’s Duties and Responsibilities: One of the primary causes of conflict in most partnership businesses is that the duties and responsibilities of partners are not clearly defined. As a result, one partner becomes overwhelmed and begins to resent the other party, and eventually, there is a confrontation, which often leads to conflict, and if that conflict is not properly resolved, the partnership will dissolve.
   5. Establish a decision-making mechanism: This is important in all partnerships, but it is especially important when the partners are even in number (i.e 2,4,6, etc). There must be mechanisms in place to resolve a tie, and these mechanisms must be respected and followed by all partners.

   We hope you found this information useful, and we wish you the best of luck in your future endeavours.