The Top Questions to Ask for a Business Partnership
It’s hard to start a business on your own. Everyone looks to you for the answer, and it’s hard to bounce ideas off employees. That’s why many people end up starting businesses with a partner.
However, committing to a business partner isn’t something you should do lightly. Reports show that 70% of partnerships ultimately fail, so you need to do everything you can to find the right partner.
Below are a few of the best questions to ask for a business partnership to figure out if working with someone is the right choice.
Have You Partnered Before?
It’s not easy to share ownership of a company for some people. They’re used to managing things themselves, so working with other people can be challenging.
While this isn’t a dealbreaker, it can cause issues for someone who has never done it before. On the other hand, someone that’s been in successful partnerships in the past sidesteps that problem. An experienced partner knows how to work together with their partners and build a successful business.
What Will Your Contributions Be?
You aren’t getting a partner just for the money. You’re bringing someone into a business for their expertise and ability to help.
However, some partners get lazy and won’t pull their weight after starting the partnership. That leaves some business owners with too much to do on their own.
It’s vital to lay the ground rules for responsibilities at the beginning of the partnership talk. Once you establish those rules, put them into a contract to keep everyone involved honest.
How Much Capital Will You Commit?
Even if you don’t need a ton of money to start a business, that doesn’t mean it’s free. As time goes on, you’ll need to invest money for product creation, employees, and other things.
You’ll need to get this funding somehow, so this is an important discussion point for you and your potential partner. Will you each contribute part of the money you need, or will one of you handle the financing while the other person handles a lot of the work?
Will You Involve Other People?
Sometimes people in partnerships make decisions on their own. They bring in people to help get things done. But that isn’t always the best thing to do.
That’s especially true if you have intellectual property. Bringing in people in this situation should be a joint decision. You’ll need to learn how your partner handles those situations.
This can be a big issue in some businesses, so learn everything you can about protecting your property.
There Are More Questions to Ask for Business Partnership
While the above questions to ask for business partnership are a great start to learning about a potential partner, they’re only a few of the questions you can ask. You need to dig into the pros and cons of working with a business partner to ensure you don’t make a serious mistake. Don’t be afraid of the tough questions and ask everything you need to if you want to vet your partner candidates.
Head back to the blog to find more tips that will help you make better business decisions.
