No matter how bright you are, starting a business requires a great deal of knowledge and skill. In which, it is possible that you do not have the experience or sufficient information. That is why it is important that you ask yourself: What should I look for in a partner?
We are used to referencing large companies with a single individual. But we don’t see that behind the success of these giants is the contribution and work of their partners and an entire team.
Microsoft was not created solely by the work of Bill Gates. Apple has two more founders apart from Steve Jobs. Facebook had five brains including that of Mark Zuckerberg. Elon Musk did not found Tesla Motors on his behalf and Virgin was not founded solely by Richard Branson.
The first follower is the one who transforms a lone entrepreneur into a leader, and possibly the co-founder..
Why relationships between partners fail.
Finding the right partner is not an easy task. In fact, most companies fail due to incompatibilities in terms of business conception, friendship or family relationships, and little commitment to agreements.
The life and perception of the partners towards the company can take different paths, considerably affecting its development.
Benefits of a good relationship.
Well-conceived partnerships can achieve higher levels of success and growth. Comparing the results that the same people would have if they pursued identical objectives individually.
For this reason the question arises: What should I look for in a partner?
Guy Kawasaki, former chief evangelist at Apple, current head of design startup Canva, and author of The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, and The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, states that a co-founder should be a soul mate and both have differences to complement each other. But likewise there must be certain similarities; in such a way that they work towards the same objectives.
According to Kawasaki, these are the similarities you should have with your soul mate in business:
What should I look for in a partner.
1. Share the same vision of the future.
The founders must share the same vision about the future of the company and the industry. The future of every company has a percentage of uncertainty. Therefore, the perspective that its creators have will be based to a certain extent on intuition.
If your intuition does not point to a similar future, both will fight for different goals; so they will not be a good combination.
2. Share the same ambition.
Not all people want to build an empire. There are some who aspire to a small business and focus on that from the start. While others view their idea as an international business.
As Kawasaki puts it, there are no good or bad expectations; Just some that match and others that don’t. This doesn’t mean that founders can know exactly what they want from the start; but at least they’ll know they’re on the same page.
3. Share the same commitment.
The founders must share the same level of commitment. That is, their priorities must be similar; Well, the time and quality of the work they do to develop the idea depends on this.
If one contributes more than the other, the problems will begin.
If one of the partners aspires to work for a couple of years and then sell the company. And the other wants to create a firm that will last through time under his command; They will have started on the wrong foot.
Ideally, the founders should agree to work together for at least ten years.
With this in mind, analyze if you have the right partners and take care of the future of your idea. If you don’t have partners yet, you can already answer “what should I look for in a partner”.
And remember, if you are really interested in creating your own business, you can read our book “How to create a company while working: Discover how to manage your time, manage your money and motivate yourself while creating a company and working for another” , where you will find all the information you need to found your own company, without having to leave your job.
