Business
Sadly, great businesses
can be and have been severely damaged by bad partnerships because many times,
once a partnership is established, it can be incredibly hard to dissolve; this
is why it is very important for entrepreneurs to be extremely careful and
meticulous when choosing a business partner for their business. Jumia Travel,
the leading online travel agency, shares 4 critical things to consider when
choosing a business partner.
Friendship
This isn’t just about
whether the two of you are friends, it’s about how well his/her goals, values
and responsibilities are aligned with yours. Take a look at the person’s
personal life and how stable it is, consider carefully if the person is
actually a good person, a good friend, not just how well you get along with the
person. You might get along with someone well but when you consider things
closely, the person might not actually be a true friend, he/she might not be
capable of having your back when it truly matters. So, to avoid personal
problems that can easily complicate your business, it is best to look well
before you leap and consider how good a friend the person is. before going into
partnership with him/her.
Trust
This should be obvious to
many entrepreneurs but many times, entrepreneurs choose people they don’t fully
trust as business partners for one reason or the other. For one to be your
business partner, there must be trust between the both of you. Choosing someone
you don’t trust to be your business partner is simply a recipe for business
disaster.
Consider
consultancy
This is more or less the
next best thing to do to avoid the cost of hiring someone as an employee when
you can’t afford to. You simply hire the person as a consultant rather than
hiring the person as an employee. This is also an especially useful alternative
when dealing with people you don’t consider entirely trustworthy enough to go
into a partnership with. Since you can’t afford to either offer them a
partnership or hire them as employees, you can simply hire them as consultants
to save cost. It is not always the best idea to offer every tom, dick and harry
that is 'good at the job' a partnership because you can’t afford to hire them
as employees; you can simply hire them as consultants and avoid giving away a
part of your company only to regret it later.
Consider
strengths
The strengths of your
business partner should complement your weaknesses. It doesn’t make business
sense if both you and your business partner have weaknesses in the same areas,
one has to complement the other, or at least not be as weak as the other in the
same areas. For example, if all your business partners including yourself are
good at sales but weak at executing on an operational level, it will only spell
doom for your business in the near future. It’s much better to keep some
balance and bring in partners who will complement each other’s strengths.
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