Partnerships – til death do us part?

Mistakes can be the best sort of experience, so here is what I have learnt about business partnerships. MARCIA GRIFFIN

By Marcia Griffin

Recently I have formed a business partnership to explore and develop a new venture and it has been an interesting experience for two very independent people to start working for a common goal – like a marriage I suppose. And I am definitely no expert there!

But I guess mistakes are the best form of experience, so when I started thinking about the type of person I would now go into a partnership with these were some of my thoughts:

• Need to know the persons values and attitudes over a period of time.
• Resilience and commitment.
• Total trust around money! The sort of person who would pay debts first before they pay themselves!
• Ability to bring complementary knowledge to the partnership.
• Hardworking.
• Do what they say they will do – when they say they will do it!
• Be able to work with people and keep strategic alliances on board.
• Be prepared to admit that they don’t know something.
• Be creative.
• Put outcomes before ego.
• Openness.
• Be able to articulate a vision.
• Good communicator.
• Be able to enjoy the process and deal with the stress.
• Be able to avoid the blame game.
• A sense of optimism – despite the challenges to see the upside.

Wow – I wish I had thought these things through when I got married. It is interesting that few people seem to write the list for their personal lives but can articulate the desirable business partner, myself included.

Now as we know all good partnerships have to go through stress and this one is yet to go to market, so the most stressful time is still ahead.

My new business partner brings a huge amount of knowledge in our chosen area and our combined experience gives me a sense of confidence – but as I said the best/worst is yet to come.

To read more Marcia Griffin blogs, click here.

High Heeled Success is Marcia Griffin’s latest book, and is a frank account of building a business from a solitary sales person to a multi-million dollar business with 4700 sales consultants around Australia and New Zealand. It recounts successes and failures along the way and was written to inspire entrepreneurs-particularly women to triumph in business.

High Heeled Success (Kerr Publishing) is available directly from Marcia (marcia_Griffin@msn.com.au) or Domain Books www.domainbooks.biz.