About Business Partners
“Coming together is a beginning;
Keeping together is progress;
Working together is success.”
~ Henry Ford.
Since we started talking about legacy, I would like to mention one of the most compelling ways to leave your mark on history — starting your own company.
I have an experience of running a startup that I sadly failed to grow into a viable business, however, there are many life and business lessons I’ve learned along the way. Of course, nothing can substitute a first-hand experience but without a doubt, some negative experiences are needless to repeat. I wish someone had shared with me what I am about to share with you before I started. Learn from my mistakes.
Before we dive into my story, I would like to walk you through some thoughts worth consideration when you choose your business partners.
#1. Seek for a person who gets things done.
An ability to execute is the most important quality that you must seek in a person be it a co-founder or a new recruit.
An ideal business partner is someone who says: “I will take care of it,” and at the very moment he says that you know that the problem you were discussing has just left the circle of your concerns.
Seek someone resourceful. Everyone can make excuses for the task he failed to execute. You need a person who will go through the nine circles of hell if that’s what it takes to get the job done. Your business is doomed if you start it with someone you can’t rely on. Connect with doers, not talkers.
#2. Seek for integrity.
Look for a business partner with a robust system of principles as it will guarantee that your partner will do everything not to let you down. For an integrous person, whether he delivers on his word or not is not a question of performance, it is a question of honor.
Being honorable means being honest. Honesty with others implies transparency about personal goals and a resolve to never resort to dodgy methods of achieving them. Honesty with self implies that your partner must be able to critically evaluate his capacity to deliver and not “bite more than he can chew”. Talk is cheap. People show their worth in execution.
#3. Seek someone with high Emotional Intelligence.
Running a startup is an emotional rollercoaster. Today it’s “yay!”, tomorrow it’s “nay”. Sometimes, an ability to stay calm when everything seems to go to pieces is the only thing that will keep your business afloat.
Running a business requires an ability to exclude ego out of the equation. Sometimes both of you will have to make some hard business decisions. You need a partner who can take the punches of entrepreneurship without taking it personally because indeed in business it is not.
#4. Seek for “marathon runners”.
Business is not a sprint. It is a marathon. Make sure that those who are by your side are ready to run the extra mile. Make sure that you are ready too.
#5. Seek someone with complementary skills.
Look for a partner who can do things you can’t. Redundancies will slow you down. Contrariwise, symbiosis of qualifications increases the capacities of your team exponentially.
Lastly, while walking through these requirements choosing a partner make sure you meet them yourself. Be the one who sets the standards for others.
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
~ Steve Jobs
Thank you for reading my book “Meditations of the Millennial”.
If you want to support me on my mission, please, share this book with someone you love. Maybe they will find what they seek on its pages.
