Making Business Partnerships Work

Hi, it's Dr. Natalie. Welcome back to Breaking the Glass Ceiling. We are continuing our journey about partnerships. So once you have the partner now, how do we make it work? Whether it's one partner, two, three, four, however many you have. I'm trying to think of what was useful to me and I'm thinking about, like the longest partnerships I've had, the ones where we've had challenges, or what is useful. And how can I help you with this area? The first thing I would say is structure. I touched on this a bit last time, but I feel like more than just having a contract, you need to divide the work. You need to be clear about it. Who is responsible for what, whether it's hr, marketing, finance, even small, specific tasks. Who is going to talk to this person who is getting us this license, who is responsible for going to the shop in the morning and opening it. You need to be super, super clear in advance so that you set expectations and then you are all in the know of what you're supposed to do. And it's at that point where you have to speak up and say, I'm not able to do this, or I can do this, I can do this, I want to do that. This makes sense. This I don't understand. Agree on those things beforehand, because once you start running the business, things start to get moving and then there'll be other people involved, external stakeholders, there'll be customers, there'll be staff, there'll be people from the government that you need to get permission from. They're going to be so many other people involved. So between the two of you, or whoever, however many you are as partners, the first thing is to make a clear structure. This is how we are going to operate. It doesn't have to be set in stone, but you need to agree at the beginning. If it doesn't work in a few months, okay, this is not working. This is too much for me, or I'm not able to do this. You speak up, you agree, and you change things. But make sure you say this in advance. Don't think just because you're both excited about the business, or cause you're good friends, or cause you've always wanted to do this together. It's just going to work anyhow. All kinds of relationships take work. So it takes an effort and it takes intention. So be clear about the structure and break it down to small, small things. Don't wait and then start resenting someone. You didn't do this, you didn't do that. Why hasn't they done this, it's not right, it's not fair. So communicate clearly, don't take things personally and don't make assumptions. Be clear about the structure together. Write it down and agree. This is why it's useful to write everything down. Send each other emails. Even after meetings, I'll send you the minutes of the meeting. So. But it's there. So in five years, when they're complaining, you said you'll do this, and I didn't do that. You always have a paper trail and you can always check what happened. The next thing I would say that's important is think about your own reputation and be honest. You don't want to cheat your partner. You don't want to lie to your partner. Remember, your partner is in this with you. They are your teammate in this endeavor, so they're not the person that you want to lie to. A lot of times people wait till there's profit and then they start fighting. No, I did this, you did that. You said you do this. You. It was my this. I gave you that. No, I provided the venue. They start to fight, and this is what you don't want to do. Be clear about these things in advance. Who put in more, who put in less, and value that. Usually, if you've made a company and incorporated it, profits should be split according to the shares you have. Whether it's 50, 50, 60, 40, 70, 30. Divide the profit that way. But if it's for like a project or something different, agree in advance because I'm providing this, this and this. I think this is how we should split the partnership. And so when the money comes in, after we've deducted all the costs, the profit part, this is how we're going to split it. It's also important to be honest about what you think, because your partners for a reason. You have shared values, but you also have different skills than different opinions. I had learned this the hard way. I once had a partner who wanted to do things in a different way, and I just kept quiet. I didn't want to fight. I was like, okay. Months later, everything was a disaster. I. I can't now be angry with them. They are angry with me for not stepping up or doing more things. And it just became a whole mess because I wasn't honest. So I learned from that. And in my next partnership, when I saw things are not moving how I thought we had agreed, I would speak up. I'd rather be a nuisance in the beginning, before we've put in money and time and we have employees whose lives are in the balance and we are fighting about these things. I've seen companies that have been together for many years and have had to split because of a partner, or I've read about companies where you read the founding story, but you're like, I've never seen this founder in any advert or anywhere because they were kicked out because they fought with the partner. So you don't want to wait till things are so bad. Be honest. And it's also your own reputation. If you get the reputation as someone who fights with everyone or someone who cheats their partners, no one will want to work with you in your own friend circle or even when you grow bigger and you're trying to look for sponsors or for companies to partner with. So honesty is really important. You need to have your integrity. You need to know that you did the right thing in the moment and you can sleep at night peacefully if you're staying up at night. I should have said, spoken up. I should have said this. Is this the right thing? You're worried they're driving the company in the wrong direction. You need to speak up. It's a hard conversation to have, but you'd rather have hard conversations than wait until you're disappointing people or the company is falling apart, or you're making big mistakes that are costing you money and time and affecting other people's lives. Have that conversation. You might be surprised. They might also be having the same worries or doubts. But it's important to speak up and to have that honesty and keep your own integrity and reputation intact. Speak up and make sure the partnership is working clearly in a few years. And you tell someone. If you tell someone that story, will you be proud of how you behaved or will you be ashamed if you have to explain to your family and friends, oh, we fell out, or the partnership has ended because of this, this and this. How will you feel? Will you feel like, I did everything I could, I stood my ground, I held up my principles? Or will you be embarrassed because you did something wrong? Think of it that way and let that help you to guide and make your decisions about these things. The last thing I would say that is super important is to check in regularly. Things change. People's lives, the circumstances change all the time. So have a structure, whether it's weekly or monthly, or you're whatsapping every day, or you're going to be on Zoom or you're going to see each other every day. Make sure you're checking in regularly and have certain things you go through regularly. Don't just say, oh, hey, how's the business? It's fine. Everything's good. Make sure you have certain metrics. How are the sales? How are the staff? Did you get this partnership? Did you get this license? Did this get done? Make sure you have a system with each other where, you know, these are the things we bounce off each other. We have this agenda once a week. We have one hour. You are going to update me on the HR and the PR and the finance. Then I'll update you on the accounting and the licensing and the stock and you have that system. Then any other business like, yes, we had this problem or this funny customer asked for this or this is an idea I think of for next month. So make sure you have a system with your partners where you're checking in with each other and you're making sure you're all on the same page because things are always moving. Has a law changed? Has something happened recently? Our curfew has lifted. How does that affect your business? Have you discussed it? As partners, you have to see what's changing in your market. If the customers are asking for something different and if your partner is on the same page as you, sometimes something will happen happen in their life and now they can't help you as much as they used to or they want to get out of the partnership. If you're not checking in regularly, you'll be blindsided and shocked when something happens or something changes or something will happen in the market and you're both on different pages, like you have different views and you can't agree on how to move forward. So make sure you have a system where you're checking in with each other and going through the fundamentals so that you're both understanding everything and moving together. I hope you found that useful. If you have any questions or comments about partnerships, I would love to hear them. What are the challenges you faced with partners? Do you have a challenge right now? If you'd need some help, let me know your questions and I'll make sure to get them answered. 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