Choosing a business partner is no easy task. Be Careful Who You Work With. There are so many things that can go wrong AND so many assumptions you can make about how it is going to turn out. Today we are going to touch base on what you need to consider before starting a partnership.
I want to tell you a bit about partnerships OK.
So when you are thinking about starting a business, you need to determine your profile. So are you a creator or are you a performer, right? And then you need to ask yourself “am I going to start an opportunity business or a lifestyle business or longevity business?
Or are you going at it with someone else? With a business partner. OK. And well I want to give you my experience about partnerships, because it's a big topic and partnerships will make some aspects of your life easier I guess and some aspects of your life harder. And you need to decide what you value the most. Which aspect? So are the easier aspects more important than the harder ones or not?
Me for example, you know as I said I'm not detail oriented and if I have a business partner who is a detail oriented person who can take care of this and that, I'm more than happy to leave it to that person. OK.
So this one, it's a big one. So you may be thinking “oh do I need to go at it alone?” OK. My first instinct is to go out alone, because in a partnership that I had, shit happened. So that's why I want I want to tell you about it.
So I want to tell you about two different types of partnerships that I had, just so you understand. My first partnership, which basically created the business that I have right now, was with a buddy of mine called Steve.
So me and Steve go way back. We worked in a company together. And then he left for another company. Then I went somewhere else and then I joined him in that second company which was the last company I worked in.
So we identified a huge opportunity on them on the market. I wanted to do something about it. But I wasn't the most technical person, so I needed someone I can trust who could take care of the technology and I was taking care of the strategy and stuff.
So I talked about it Steve, who was an awesome guy. And that's how we got started. The agreement I had with him was that we were going to do everything 50 50 OK. Whatever happens we were going to do everything 50 50 which is what we did. OK. Everything that came in the business we were sharing 50/50 and we were always you know on equal ground. And then yeah stuff happened.
So we started this side business. We did the other job too. So we had a contract that says you know during our day we were working for a company and then during the evening we were doing our things. And you know the business started picking up quite well. And somehow the boss found out about it. And this is when things went south! And this is when you can see who's who.
Be Careful Who You Work With.
So I was working for this company in a highly specialized environment. And you know finding someone like me for that company was complicated. OK. So if I left the company they would have been in big trouble. And the boss of the company was a buddy of mine.
And I didn't want to leave them like this knowing that I could have left because my business was actually working pretty well and I could have left the business ages ago. I was just staying because I wanted to find a replacement for me before I left. So I could tell them “dude OK I'm leaving but here is someone else who can actually do what you need”.
So the boss found out about our side business and he was mad as hell! He wasn't happy with it and he was basically looking to fire us. So I was sitting on my desk I knew that was coming. So he took me in his office was like “I'm going to sue you if you don't resign!” and blah blah blah. I was like “yeah all right dude. Give me a paper I will sign the paper”.
And he basically told me, “Well I know Steve is involved as well. So after I'm done with you I'm going to call him in the office” and blah blah blah and I'm like “dude he doesn't have anything to do with it. So it's just me. So give me the damn paper. I will sign it and its fine”. You know as I said as I was saying two or three days later I will have to resign anyway to start my round the world tour.
So basically it meant that I had three months off where, you know it's not like I had money problems because my business was bringing me at least three times what my job was bringing me and I could go travel. So I went to Asia for three months and that was awesome!
So I told Steve that the boss thinks it’s all me, so don’t worry, you won’t get fired. And this is you know when shit hits the fan, this is where you see who was with you and who's not with you. So what was at stake here was his job you know for Steve It was his job. So even though his job was at stake, Steve told the boss “this is very unfair. I can't let you pin everything on Martin because it was a 50 50. So if he gets fired, I should get fired as well”.
So this is the kind of partnership I had with him and I still have with him. There are people that can tell you what they want but you can see the way they act right. And I saw in that moment and I already knew it but it was a confirmation. The dude was about to lose his job and he didn't want to pin everything on me.
So what happened afterwards? It was actually very funny. Apart from being fired or resigning, there is another option which is called mutual consent. So you and your company agree that it's best to stop the collaboration and you're entitled to unemployment benefit. So he signed it and he eventually left the company but he was still entitled to the benefits and stuff which was really funny.
So that's the first example I want to give you.
But there are other examples where right now I'm in a partnership and yesterday I found out that my partner is working on something else which you know which is really not a problem but I will explain the details. So I have this partnership. So we're working on projects on like you know online stores and stuff. Right. And my conception of partnership is what I just told you.
If I work with someone you know I will support that person. You know if the business is not going well and I can support my partner then I will do it because you know one day the business is going to work fine. Everything is going to go back to normal. And it's a commitment for me. I usually don't do that commitment because I like working alone but if I do if I make that commitment then I'm all in.
Be Careful Who You Work With.
Yesterday I just found out that you know the business partner of mine is working on the exact same project. But not with me! So basically anything that's going to come out of that project, I'm not going to see anything out of it. And you know for me it's not a problem of money. You know how much I'm committed to that person?
Basically you know like 100 percent I'm supporting the person because we have a common goal, and whatever comes in any of the projects or whatever I will give that person 50 percent and right now I'm giving more than 50 percent because the project hasn't started and there is no money coming in.
Which you know then maybe I'm at fault for that but anyway this is my conception of working with someone and you know when you turn around and realize that the other person is just starting their own thing.
And if it's something completely different it's fine. But if it's the exact same thing that we were doing and you know sideways and keeping that for themselves then it’s a bit disappointing.
All right. So Yes. Just to just to say that when you when you go into partnership these are some of the things that can happen. You think you have the same vision of what a partnership means but it can be completely different. OK.
In this case in that my first partnership we had the exact same vision of the partnership, but in this one, sadly I realized that we don't. OK. So you know it's something you have to take into account because it can happen to you down the road.
