Five tips for
choosing the right
business partner

It is absolutely essential that you try to be as objective as possible. Think about the qualities that you are looking for in a business partner, establish clear criteria and judge your prospects based on these criteria rather than on the nature of your relationship with these people.

For example, your best friend obviously has many qualities, but upon further reflection, does that person really have the professional dispositions needed to make your project a success?

Not everyone has the same goals when they go into business.

If one of you is seeking hyper rapid growth and market domination, while the other is targeting prudent growth and a moderate market share, you will probably have a hard time reconciling your medium and long-term visions.

At the same time, it may be a good idea to determine the time and effort each one is willing to commit to the project. Someone who only wants to work 25 hours a week and does not want to change their lifestyle too much will not get along very well with a workaholic who expects to work 60 hours or more a week. You don't necessarily have to divide the work evenly, but you should both agree on the distribution of tasks right from the start.

Another reason to look beyond your usual social circles is to leave yourself some leeway to find someone who complements you in terms of skills and personality.

Ideally, your partner should be able to handle areas in which you excel less.

Is the person you want to establish a partnership with ready to invest money, equipment or any other assets to match your investment in the business? If not, this person may not be as committed to the project as you.

If you have a friendly relationship with your future business partner, you could be tempted to enter into informal agreements with him/her. However, since you will spend a lot of time with that person, conflicts could eventually arise.

To avoid problems in case of a disagreement, it could be a good idea to have a lawyer put the terms of you partnership in a contract that you are both bound by right from the start, for example as part of a partnership agreement.