10 Questions before Partnering

from Entrepreneur magazine 7/13 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz 11/13

4. Is your potential partner’s Passion & Commitment to the business as “strong” as yours?
“I don’t care if it’s a coffee house or a design firm, a business partner’s commitment has to equal yours.” A partnership — especially one between friends — can start off with fun & excitement, but within a short time, the slog of every day catches up with you. If they’re not as committed to the business as you, they may lose their enthusiasm and may actually be damaging your organization every time you open your doors.

5. Is there something in your potential partner’s “Family life” that might make the business a secondary interest?
If your potential partner has a pregnant wife or is taking care of an elderly parent, he may be distracted from the business. That’s why you have to be brutally honest when thinking of forming a partnership. “The partner can say, ‘My wife is behind me 100 %.’ But I want to talk to the wife. If they’re too distracted by a family issue or their family isn’t behind them, the business may be doomed from the start.”

6. How would s/he handle the Hick-ups?
It’s important to know what your potential business partner will do if s/he has their back up against the wall — and it will happen. The best way to discover this is to look at what they’ve done in past business ventures. If s/he couldn’t meet payroll, for example: Did s/he do the right thing and dip into savings or borrow from a credit card or a friend? Or did s/he pay employees late, or not at all? Or worse, did s/he skip paying payroll taxes? It all comes down to character issue.”

7. What Questions do they have for me?
If a potential employee doesn’t ask any questions in a job interview, you might be less likely to hire him because of a perceived lack of interest. The same applies even more so, to a potential business partner, who should want to know about your character, reliability & expectations. “I want them to ask me tough questions like I’m asking them. If they say it doesn’t really matter, it could mean two things: their expectations are too high or they might be kind of flighty. Things may be fine now, but in a month or two, they may want to change things or even get out of the deal.”

[ Respect in their Community, Signing a Contract, Advantages & Dis-Advantages of a Partner, Terminating the Partnership in Premium Content ]