Five tips for finding the right business partner

A business partnership is a lot like a marriage. Get it right and the rewards are amazing. Get it wrong and things get…well, messy. 

You’re going to be spending a lot of time with your business partner and putting a lot of trust in them. Here’s five key actions that will give you the best chance of getting it right.

Be clear about what you want

The first question that needs to be asked, by you and your potential Prtner, is what exactly are you searching for? Who is your perfect match?

Be clear about the skills you need as a business owner, or the skills you offer as a subject mater expert. 

The business owner needs to very clearly identify the specific area of the business that needs help, and the subject matter expert needs to be equally clear about how they can drive the business to greater success with their skills and experience. 

There’s other questions that both parties need to think about. Are you focused on a specific industry or specific skills, or does that not matter as much as skills? Some skills are easily transferable across industries; others are very specific and niche (and highly valued). 

Be clear about location and your flexibility around location. Are you only willing to partner with someone in your home city? Or your home state? Or are you willing to try a partnership via video conference? If the pandemic proved anything in the workplace, it’s that we don’t need to work in the same city anymore. Remote work is now a proven way of working, and it sometimes makes little difference if an expert is on the other side of the country (or even the world!).

Be clear about how much time you need or can offer. If a business owner wants a full-time partner but an expert only has 1-2 days a week of availability, that’s unlikely to work out.

Be clear also about the sort of partner relationship you want. Is it an experienced mentor, or someone who will play a more hands-on role in the day-to-day business? Are you a business looking for another business to link up with, or an investor? 

PrtnerUp.biz offers a range of parameters that allow you to filter community members to find a pool of potential matches. These include industry, expertise, type of relationship desired, availability and location. 

Reach out

There’s lots of ways of trying to find the perfect business partner, the one who ticks as many boxes as possible. PrtnerUp.biz is just one of the ways. But whichever way you choose, there’s a point where you need to reach out and make contact (a bit like an awkward first date). 

With PrtnerUp, reaching out is easy. Send a message to your potential match expressing your interest and explaining why you might be exactly what they’re looking for in turn. Swap details and get in touch. 

Find out more

Take the time to get to know this person. What is their history, their experience? Do they have references? What have they accomplished, and can they prove it? Scammers hang out on business networking websites just like they do on dating websites, so make sure your candidate partner has a real backstory. Ask for references from previous clients or employers to get an idea of the candidate's work ethic and track record.

Build trust

It’s so important to really engage with your potential Prtner. If you’re a business owner, you need to be confident in exactly how this person will help grow your business. As a subject matter expert, get an understanding of the problem that the business owner is trying to solve and how you could help with this. 

These discussions will also help you assess their personality and compatibility with you and your business culture. You’ll need to make sure their values align with yours. As we mentioned at the start, you’re going to be spending a lot of time together. 

You might want to try some more concrete steps to build trust before you jump into a partnership arrangement. Maybe you could design a short contract project to ensure you’re a good fit for each other. Or arrange some strategy workshops. Whatever. This relationship needs to work for you as much as your Prtner. Take the time to make sure it’s going to work, or at least that you’ve made it as safe as possible. 

What’s next?

Once you’re sure, clearly communicate the expectations and goals of the relationship (however it’s defined) and document your Prtner’s role and responsibilities. 

Establish a regular communication schedule to ensure that your new Prtner is kept informed of progress and any issues that may arise for each of you.

Sign a formal agreement (one that has had a genuine legal review). 

Finally, regularly review the relationship and evaluate performance to ensure that your Prtner knows if they are meeting expectations and contributing to your joint success.

Take your time

Finally, it’s important to remember not to rush. Across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, it’s estimated that 20-30% of small businesses fail within the first year, and 50-60% fail within the first five years. 

Benjamin Franklin once said, “keep your eyes wide open before marriage.” In business, keeping your eyes open before settling on a business partner can help avoid becoming part of those statistics. It’s just a matter of finding the perfect match.

The PrtnerUp philosophy

We aim to help business owners and experts build long-term relationships so both succeed and grow. This is about you, not us. We try to keep things as simple as possible so you can focus on finding your perfect business match.