Scott Trimble’s latest blog post is titled “The BIG Guide to Partnerships: Choose, but choose wisely”. [Blog]


Scott Trimble’s latest ‘Halfagain’ blog post:

The BIG Guide to Partnerships: Choose, but choose wisely

This is the first installment in the “˜What We’ve Done’ series. In other words, how 3 guys built a successful web-based business. The idea of this series is to quantify exactly what we’ve done that’s been successful (and what we’ve done that hasn’t) so you can replicate the good and avoid the bad.

This week’s installment: Partnerships.

Everything started with a partnership. I knew Omar (partner #1) from a previous position I had held as an affiliate manager (Omar was an affiliate) and Omar met Kirill (partner #2) one day in a forum. He struck up a conversation, one thing led to another and after a few weeks, they started talking about doing a project together. Omar brought us together, we discussed the potential, some of our reservations, logistics were worked out over the following couple of weeks (the setting up of the business entity, banking, etc) and we were on our way.

Now, I realize it sounds like I’m cutting out pieces of the story and I suppose I am to a certain extent, but none of them pertain to the actual formation of the partnership. What I’ve said is a pretty accurate look at how we started. Sounds easy right? Read my disclaimer…

Personal Disclaimer: I believe in being completely transparent with our practices and business, especially when doling out recommendations. So, given this, please note that in forming our Halfagain LLC partnership, we did NOT use all of the tools and strategies I talk about below. In short, we got lucky. It doesn’t mean anyone will, and in fact, many haven’t. So, use the strategies below ““ they will GREATLY enhance the likelihood of your partnership’s success.

Issues are inevitable.

Our partnership, like most, isn’t perfect. Sometimes one person feels like they’re doing all the work. Other times, a partner may feel that more should be done in a certain area that is handled by the other. And sometimes, we have regular old disagreements about how to handle certain matters.

The issue though is not the problem, it’s how the problem is solved. It’s important to consider that partnerships aren’t dissolved because of problems, they’re dissolved due to a lack of solutions.

So, as cliche as it sounds, good communication and open-mindedness are the first rules to live by. Think about it ““ if you’re not willing to candidly communicate AND remain open to the fact that your idea may not be the best option, what’s the point of having a partner?

Fun fact: I still have not met Kirill in person and only met Omar once. All communication has been done over ICQ and skype.

Why a partner?

Why are partners such a powerful option for the entrepreneur? Here’s the short list. Partners…

– Provide expertise where you have none.
– Temper your crazy, destined-for-failure ideas.
– Urge you to execute your better ones.
– Are another brain to bounce ideas off.
– Push you when you’d rather be on the couch watching a Lost marathon.
– Are simply more resources to throw at a project (Two heads and all that.)

What to look for?

Since I’m a fan of lists, I’ll give you another one. Here are what I’ve found to be the most important attributes in a partner. Your partner must …

– be good at what you’re not.
– be trustworthy.
– be a compatible personality.
– have similar business philosophies.
– be passionate about the business.
– have good track record in their area of expertise.

I won’t take the time to explain each one of these, as I believe most of them to be self-evident. Just think of finding a partner in the same way you’d think of finding an employee. If you wouldn’t hire them for the job, then they’re not the right choice.

Pitfalls to watch for.

Family. Many will say this, but I don’t necessarily agree. The pitfall to avoid on this one is to make sure you’re partnering with them because of their assets, NOT because they’re family. Partner with someone for the wrong reasons and you’re sunk.

Trust. Bottom line, partnering with someone who you don’t fully trust is a very BAD idea. It doesn’t matter what they offer, how excited they are or how successful you think the business will be with them. If you don’t trust “˜em, ditch “˜em.

Motivation. I’ve found that more often than not, if two partners have different motivations, they’re headed for troubled waters. For example, partner #1 is motivated by creating a value-based business and partner #2 is primarily motivated by making money. The first partner is likely to want to spend time and money injecting their business with greater value for the customer, while the second is more likely to cut corners on costs and uncomfortably squeeze customers for more revenue. Neither of these practices will sit well with Partner #1. Be sure that your partner has the same motivations as you.

How to find a partner.

There are many, many ways to find a suitable partner. However, it always starts with who you know. So, in most cases, the prerequisite to finding a partner is getting your name out there, networking and building relationships in the field in which you wish to build a business. You’ll often find that partnerships spawn naturally from the relationships you create, so use the web’s many mediums (email, forums, IM, social media sites and other communities) to start saying hi and striking up conversations with people.

Once you find some suitable candidates, work with them on small projects to get a feel for how they work and their business philosophy. Are things looking good? Discuss the possibility of working with them on some bigger projects.

Get expectations on the table – put them in writing.

Write it down baby! Put all expectations of the partnership in writing. You’re skipping any he-said she-said stuff, covering yourself legally and making sure that, going into the venture, each party is fully aware of the expectations of the other. Some ideas you might want to play with…

Who’s going to have control?

If there’s an impasse, how will you handle it?
Who’s investing and how does this affect control?
Who’s handling hiring and firing?
How much time is each party ready to commit to the project?
Etc.

Have built in exit strategies.

Think of it like signing prenuptials before getting married. If a partner wants out, how will you handle it?

Reservations: Now’s the time to be honest.

If there’s any a time to be honest, it’s before entering into a partnership. I believe it’s important to have a “Concerns Session”, where both potential partners sit down and hash out any (and I do mean ANY) concerns they have about the partnership, the business or any other matter they think may come up later. If you have a reservation, get it out BEFORE getting in.

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If you have any experiences or thoughts regarding partnerships, shoot me an email. I’d love to hear and work them into future articles.

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The BIG Guide to Partnerships: Choose, but choose wisely…

Halfagain

Scott Trimble is a partner in Halfagain LLC, a Portland, Oregon based Search and Affiliate Marketing software producer. Scott’s an Aquarius and his favorite food is the taco. You can find more articles like this on his blog at Scott’s internet marketing Blog

*IMNewswatch would like to thank Scott Trimble for granting permission to reprint the latest article.

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