Pairing Up Are two heads always better than one? Know the good and the bad sides of business partnerships.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
You've wanted to start a business with your best friend foryears--or perhaps you know a business associate with complementaryskills whom you feel would be a great partner. While it'stempting to go full speed ahead, parse out the pros and cons beforedeciding on a partnership. Though there's no single answer foreveryone, two experts weigh in to help you decide what's bestfor your business.
Pro:TerriZwierzynski, a business coach and founder of Solo-E.com Inc. inCary, North Carolina, likes partnerships because two people can geta lot more done than one person, and each partner can work in theirrespective strong areas. Partners might also have differentfinancial resources to call upon for the business--which doublesyour network. Particularly if you're close to the personalready (a friend or family member), you know that person'swork strengths and habits. This person can also see the areas youmight be blind to.
Having a business partner means that person is just as investedin your company's success as you are--and will work harder thanany employee or contractor because of that. If you have a partner,"It's a lot more fun to celebrate when you have a bigwin," Zwierzynski says. "That person can also help you beresilient when things don't go well."
Con: Paul E. Casey, founder of CaseyCommunications Inc. in Seattle and author of Is Self-Employment for You?, notes thatgoing into business with a partner can be risky. "If you enterinto a traditional partnership, 50 percent of your income isimmediately going to your partner," he says. And you'llhave to buy twice the supplies. Making decisions for the companyalso takes longer because you have to run everything by yourpartner.
Partnership can be even more dicey with a friend or familymember. "I'm a strong [proponent] of keeping friends orfamily out of your business," says Casey. "[If itdoesn't work out], the family relationship becomes verystrained, and friendships break apart."
If you lack strength in certain areas, you can farm out thatwork to contractors and not give up any stake in the business. Andyour mind-set at the beginning will likely change with time. SaysCasey, "You and your partner may be looking in the samedirection now, but with a dynamic change in the marketplace today,[that's] bound to change. That's where I've seenfriction develop, too."
