Finding A Business Partner?

[Charlesp]

How did you guys find your business partner when starting a business?

Were you guys close friends?
Did you meet in college?
Are you related?

How do you find someone who thinks like you, its hard to have a business orientated discussion with someone who doesn't view the world like you (from a producer stand-point).

How do you find the person to become your friend, trust you, sacrifice with you, help build upon your ideas, contribute to them, and make them better (two heads are better then one), and eventually make your business partner?

 

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[Mike39]

business partner

uke:

:eusa_naughty:

 

[InLikeFlint]

Both of mine are friends from my highschool. I noticed over time that both of them liked business like I did. One was very interested in investing and was always talking about his investments with me, and the other was interested in resale and was always looking for suppliers. I then asked them if they would be interested in collaborating in a business together, they agreed and we shared all the info we had and it is going wonderfully!

 

[1PercentStreet]

How did you guys find your business partner when starting a business?

Were you guys close friends?
Did you meet in college?
Are you related?

How do you find someone who thinks like you, its hard to have a business orientated discussion with someone who doesn't view the world like you (from a producer stand-point).

How do you find the person to become your friend, trust you, sacrifice with you, help build upon your ideas, contribute to them, and make them better (two heads are better then one), and eventually make your business partner?

I disagree. My head is pretty darn good and doesn't work well doubled.

 

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[77startup]

I met my business partner on a forum just like this one. We were both freelancers (Front/backend developers) and worked on a few projects together.

 

[Charlesp]

I mean its always room for improvement, someone might catch something you may have overlooked.

 

[mrsilva]

I'm about to get into a partnership.

I have experience and knowledge. He has the business and money. I will come in to help and get some equity otherwise I will not spend my time in somebody else brand and make them rich while I'm stuck at some fixed salary.

Also He got some great connections wich can help in the future. I hope for the best!

 

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[tincho1492]

I'm thinking of one with my current venture, not a technical-one but one that has connections and industry experience. A lot more than I have now.

 

[The-J]

That's like asking "Where can I find a wife and how did you find one?"

Search 'business partner' on this forum and you'll find a plethora (SAT word, eh?) of threads and posts talking about missteps and errors when dealing with business partners.

"If having a partner was good, God would have one." - Peter2

Then again, God doesn't have a wife, either.

 

[CommonCents]

Partners should not automatically be poo pooed. The biggest problem with partners is that the partnership is not defined and in writing, not necessarily the partnership itself. There is nothing wrong with partners, but you must have it defined and in writing. Just like a wife, if you get married and don't agree on core stuff and work at it through communication, you will fail.

If you have all the skills necessary to launch a biz, or know enough to outsource where you are weak, do it. But if lack of technical background or general business/sales background is holding you back from action. Do it. Partners provide a nice sounding board and support working towards the same goal.

In fact there are probably more huge success stories with partners than with solo founders, especially early on in a business. Maybe later one departs, buys the other out etc...

Ever heard of these partners?

Jobs and Wozniak?
Gates and Allen
Sergey Brin and Larry Page?
Zuckerberg and the few guys he screwed over?
Edison and JP Morgan
Rockefeller and Tesla
Wright Bros
Hewlett Packard
Evan Williams and Biz Stone twitter
Pierre Omidyar and Jeffrey Skoll ebay
Gordon Moore and Bob Noyce intel
William Procter and James Gamble
Jerry Yang and David Filo
Ben & Jerrys
Bernie Marcus, Arthur Blank, Ron Brill, and Pat Farrah home depot

Do not poo poo a partner for partner sake. Do Poo poo taking on a partner without a written agreement for your working relationship. Especially important to have a partner that fills in areas of your weakness and vice versa. So that you are complimentary. You are less inclined to step on each others toes if you are complimentary, than if you were both generalists or both competent in the same area of business.

Partnerships are neither good or bad, the execution of partnerships or failure to do so causes much of the problems. Just make sure each partner has about the same skin in the game.

This especially applies to net related businesses that are popular here. Many times you are either web guru technical or you are sales/marketing/business oriented, its rare to be proficient in both. Complimentary partners in this area can work out real well. But you must have your operating agreement in writing and your prenuptials written. It's easier to negotiate and write these out when you start, but gets real tough when things start to get going and the money comes in. Do it early.

 

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[The-J]

But you must have your operating agreement in writing and your prenuptials written. It's easier to negotiate and write these out when you start, but gets real tough when things start to get going and the money comes in. Do it early.

Partnership really IS like marriage, eh?

Personally, I'm not ready to settle down with a partner just yet. I'm still young.

 

[johnp]

Were you guys close friends?
Did you meet in college?
Are you related?

I'm marrying one of my business partners. Been with her for near 7 years. She actually does make-up for a lot of the stuff that I lack, such making the things that I say easier to understand. Nothing sounds better to me then getting to talk business with the girl that I'm marrying at any moment of the day. Now if we get divorced one day, then I'm screwed.

One of my other partners - from Ice Hockey. I found the most competitive player on my team who is the complete opposite of me, very knowledgeable in sales, and asked him to go into business with me.

 

[mrsilva]

It's easier to negotiate and write these out when you start, but gets real tough when things start to get going and the money comes in. Do it early.

That! Thank you!

 

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[Ali]

Whoever you take as a partner be it a friend, a relative or even a guy who blocks you on the road, make sure that he/she is twice as hungry for money and business success as you are. The rest is just contracts and paper work.