The who in The Partnership

Back in the day I talked about the importance of having a business partner to help you weather the storms of starting a business. There's a billion benefits to having someone with which to start the business, whether it's having another physical person to share the work load with or another brain to storm with.

There are also a billion things to think about when you find that special someone. Avi Pollock, the serial entrepreneur in RBC's Applied Innovation department, said that plain and simple that you better love whoever your starting a business with – you'll be spending more time with them than your spouse.

With Avi's help and doing some research of my own, I found a couple of guys with whom I'll be starting my business. These are some tidbits that Avi passed on to me and that I think were definitely worth looking for.

Trust – if you can't trust your potential business partner then you'll have huge issues. And it's not just a mater of "do I trust that they'll get this done" or "will they be a hard worker" but ask yourself, "do I trust their judgment, their ideas and their vision for this; are we on the same wavelength". Will they be there in good times and bad, in sickness and in health?

Diversity – If one brain is good, then two brains must be great - especially if they're the same. Not so much. Think about what you bring to the table and what they'll bring to the table; are they complementary? For example, if you're the risky, big picture, problem-solving guy, then maybe you want someone who is more logical, details oriented and meticulous.

And it should be mentioned too that diversity of skills is pretty essential too. Maybe you're a designer with a plan or an engineer or you're into politics. It might be wise to team up with someone who can work on the operations, like a business student or a web designer.

Balance – There's going to be some rocky times ahead, no doubt, and often you and your partner are going to come to a fork in the road where the decision isn't clear-cut. Have a partner that you can argue with. Look for someone that won't (and you can't) just back down when a problem comes up (otherwise, it's just like one person running the business!).

Arguing and shaky times don't have to put the business in jeopardy; if you can see yourself striking a balance and using arguments as productive stepping-stones to move things forward with your partner, then your good-to-go.

Values – You're values ought to be aligned; these are those irreconcilable differences. If the very thing that you value in your business is a large profit, but you're partner's aim is for quality (which costs more), and you're both unapologetically behind each, you'll have some issues. There needs to be an underlying common ground for which you're both working.

So what if you've found the right person? How do you get them on board; maybe they're interested in your plan and you're interested in having them as a business partner? If you're only starting up, then you're business isn't really worth anything more than the idea it is on paper; so can you really sell them a stake in the business. How do you come up with a value when you want to sell a 25, 30 or even 50% stake of a company that doesn't actually exist?

This is something I have to figure out; I don't have a freakin' clue what I'm going to do in order to "sell" some equity in this venture. Any ideas?

**This is a repost of an April 23rd entry, but with links included, as the previous blog entry did not contain any links**