Kim Lisa TaylorSecurities Attorney, Founder, Syndication Attorneys, PLLC · Corporate Securities Attorney, 2x Best-Selling Author, Nationwide Speaker | Private Placement

How to Choose the Right Business Partner

27 Oct 2025 · 1 min

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1:28

In this brief discussion, the speakers address how to identify and select the right business partners by focusing on integrity and observable behavior. Speaker B shares a practical vetting process that starts with a list of 15 integrity‑focused questions, especially probing candidates about a past bad or difficult real‑estate deal to test honesty, accountability, and learning. The response is evaluated for blame‑shifting versus ownership of mistakes. Additionally, Speaker B recommends a simple real‑world test: observe how a potential partner treats waitstaff during a dinner, using that interaction as a proxy for their overall values and integrity. The conversation underscores the importance of listening between the lines and continuously observing behavior to ensure trustworthy partnerships.

How do you, you know, how does someone go about identifying and choosing the right partners?
Uh, you know, I've been through good partnerships, I've been through bad partnerships. I learned I've got a list of 15 integrity questions, uh, that I go through, and I'm looking for, you know, the answers. If somebody is constantly blaming other people or blaming other things, or they're not being truthful— I mean, one of the questions, if I'm looking for a partner that has some real estate experience, and I'll ask them, you know, tell me about you know, a bad deal that you've done, you know. And if they say they've been in real estate for any length of time and I haven't done a bad deal or a difficult deal, then they're probably lying. Because as you know, anybody that's been in real estate for any length of time has had a difficult deal. They usually come at the very beginning. Yes. Um, they're there. And then when they do talk about one, it says, how did you handle it? And then you listen for, are they blaming other people, you know, for the bad deal? Or did they, did they, they learn a lesson And then change, you know, change going forward, learn that lesson and move forward. So that's, so I really listen in between the lines when I'm asking questions for partners. And, and here's a very simple thing, right? You're looking like at ultimate partnering, you know, you find somebody and you think they're, you know, a good partner, go out to dinner with them, right? See how they treat the waiter or the waitress. That, that's got a good indication on their integrity, how they treat people and their true values. So you're always observing.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.