There are times when it’s best to go solo and others when you need a team effort to survive. When you’re part of a team, you need to know how to be a good team player, since a team works best when each of the players plays to his strength and complements the strengths of his teammates. When it comes to business partnerships, you’re on a sticky wicket because there are huge sums of money and large amounts of efforts involved. In order to establish a partnership that stands the test of time, you need to consider the following aspects:
- The best partners complement each other: The most compatible partners are those who have the same goal and different strengths and expertise in various areas that are needed to achieve the goal. It’s important that your vision for the company be the same – if one person wants to run your organization as a social enterprise while the other wants to rake in the profits, you’re going to be pulling one horse in two different directions.
- Clear cut responsibilities help avoid the blame game: A partnership in which clear cut responsibilities are defined help pinpoint the blame when something does go wrong instead of each blaming the other for the fiasco. It also paves the way for proactive measures to be taken so that the problem can be rectified.
- Money matters destroy even the strongest of friendships: If you’re going into partnership with a friend or a relative, be warned that money is stronger than blood or friendship. If the partnership does not survive, then you can expect your personal relationship to be strained and affected too, unless both of you are really mature and are able to separate the business aspect of your relationship from the personal side.
- It’s best to have a written agreement and an exit strategy: Even the best of friends can turn into the worst of enemies, so don’t depend on mere words, even though they were spoken in good faith, to keep your partnership secure. Draw up a written agreement that delineates each of your responsibilities, profit sharing arrangements, and how your assets will be split in case you decide to call it quits.
- Limiting the amount of liability helps in times of trouble: A limited partnership helps you safeguard yourself in case your partner uses your common business to promise things that he or she is not allowed to. It limits your liability in the damage suit that may follow.
ContractStore has several documents to help you set up a solid basis for your partnership, including
A148 Partnership Agreement
A107 Shareholders Agreement.
A complete range of partnership documents is available at https://www.contractstore.com/business-services/business-structures/