Finding a Business Partner
Approaches to Finding a Business Partner
Alot of ideas don't off the ground because people can't find the right business partners or team members. So how do you define your ideal business partner and then find them?
Defining the Profile of a Business Partner
Firstly, it's important before you embark on this journey, to think about what you would be looking for in a busines partner...it can't just be about combatting loneliness or sharing the same passion for something.
It has to be about finding somone with the right skill set, attributes, character, resources whether it's time, connections or financial, and values to make the business perform!
It is important to make time to think about what you would look for in the ideal candidate, as you are entering into an agreement which combines finance, contacts, resources and your energy. It is a bit different to just recruiting an employee.
You will need to think about the proportion of the business you are wanting to give away in relation to what the business partner is offering, whether it's finance, time, or skills and what the desired outcomes of the business partnership would look like.
If you need some assistance in clarifying the ideal profile of a business partner, or you need an independent person to facilitate discussions between yourself and a potential business partner to plan out your roles and responsibilities then one of our Business Coaches can offer you a One to One Coaching session .
We have worked with many business partnerships to help them review their contributions, deal with issues, plan out their performance frameworks, analyse what skills they are still missing, and discuss their shared goals and visions for the company. Having a coach as a third party can help to keep the discussion in focus and ensure the company is kept on track.
Alternatively you might want to look at the different personality profiles which make up a good entrepreneurial team with the Wealth Dynamics Personality Profiling tool. You can use this tool to profile you own character as well as explore the profile of others.
Finding a Business Partner
Once you know what you want, how do you find one...
Well there a few approaches you can take...
- Face to Face Networking is one of the best ways of finding a business partner - it's like dating, if you meet someone face to face you'll know if you hit it off straight away. You'll explore ideas, get into your interests and talk business all night, ...it will lead on to explore ways to work together and then you'll decide to merge skills or ideas...and it's love! ...well at least until you've had an argument and the honeymoon period is over. It's like a marriage you have to work at business relationships too!
- Head Hunting - If you need specific expertise for a business, it could be of value headhunting someone who has the right skills for your business. Searching the team profile section of companies will be your target or asking around. It's what recruitment agencies do all the time. Offering a proposal to own a share in a company might be right up their street, and could give them the challenge they've been looking for.....remember if you don't ask you never know.
- Business Partner Brokerage - You could use sites such www.businesspartners.com, www.findyouridealbusinesspartner.com/ or www.companypartners.com who run a type of dating service for entrepreneurs, allowing you to search for potential business partners.
- Approach Network Leaders or Business Coaches - Both of these roles will know many start up business owners and they are likely to know their clients and what their needs are. Talking from my own experience, I am always marrying people together to share skills and team up on aspects of the business, and we've seen successful business partnerships flourish as a result.
So based on all those ideas for finding a business partner you've got a good chance...however it won't necessarily be easy and you might have a few false starts! It is like dating and marriage but in business....you've got to find someone with the same values as you, and who will stick with the project in the long term, to ride the highs and the lows.
Our business coaches are here to help. Find out more about our business coaching services or email us at [email protected] to arrange a chat with one of our coaches.
