You ready for this? It’s time for a little tough love… Let’s get real.
It doesn’t matter if this is the first business you are getting off the ground or if you have multiple already out there earning for you… Key is to always know what you are getting into before deciding to partner with someone. There are many questions that need to be addressed in order to really asses whether this is an investment that you should be getting involved in.
There are the obvious ones… What’s the idea? … What are we selling/doing?
One of the most important questions is… Who am I am getting into business with? If your answer to this is, “my homeboy”… “my sister”… “my best friend”… None of those answers are the correct ones. The questions is not what is this persons’ relationship to you… It is who are they?
What is their background?
What is their experience?
What is their knowledge?
What is their drive and motivation?
Most importantly…what is their investment? Are they giving time, efforts, knowledge, money…what are they bringing to the table… That is the key here.
When someone is bringing invaluable knowledge to the table, then lesser monetary investment is acceptable. Substantial
contribution must be made by all parties.
You must know your partner is your partner and not a scrub. Trust me there are plenty of scrubs out there who are going to jump at the chance to partner with someone who is going to front all the money and do all the work. Friends and family can quickly get you pulled into something. They are someone you trust and care for… they will get to talking one day with all good intentions. Before you know it y’all have discussed this elaborate idea and all sounds good but there is no foundation… Your partner lacks the drive and ambition that you have. You will quickly find yourself in over your head and sinking when your partner isn’t giving into this new business venture the way that you are. No matter how good the idea or potential of said venture is, it isn’t worth it if you are in alone. They have got to be in it with you.
If someone is going to come at you with an idea, they better come correct… they better come with cash in hand and be ready to put in the time and work.
I caution you against working with friends or family… It is just a caution as things need to be kept professional and many times people who are close to you can easily cross lines, even accidentally… Things can get blurry and that isn’t what you want. You need to feel comfortable and confident being able to keep things professional and calling them out when your partner isn’t putting it all in and pulling their weight.
There is a lot of ideas here that are all valid and significant for different reasons and all come together under the same principle of being cautious who you get into business with. Follow and keep up with my other posts and we will touch on some of these other concepts a little deeper. For now, they key is to not partner with an idea… don’t get into something deep with someone just because the idea seems good or plausible or because of the source of the idea… you need an investment… you need a partner to bring the cheddar and lay down some of the leg work ahead of time to give you confidence in their ability and willingness to out in the work.
You have a new concept… you need a partner… you ready to Get Cocky… expect them to Get Cocky with you otherwise… go it alone. You’ll be better off.
beingcoreybayless 