The 4 Rules of A Successful Business Partnership

I don't think that you have to go into a 50, 50 partnership. Like, in fact, most partnerships should not ever be 50 50, because one partner will always bring a lot more than.

The other partner, and you create an impasse if you're 50 50, absolutely.

Like, who's the person who makes that final decision? These are the things that you have to talk about, and you have to be able to have these conversations within your relationship. And we're back with another episode of He.

I'm literally back from Virginia. You're literally back from Austin. Both of us visiting our teams and business partners, which we're definitely going to get into today. But first, you know, we start this episode with a glossy tip. Oh, I got to tell you, I got out there, and my team is like, oh, my God, you look so good. What are you doing? I'm like, hello, you're not using my wife's product. What is wrong with you, team? But all joking aside, people are literally noticing it on me. So why is that? Give us a science tip. Give us some kind of glossy tip.

Well, today I'm going to talk about magnesium, because I think so many people know how good magnesium is, but I didn't quite realize the effects of magnesium until I really started diving deep into it. You know, you and I have always bought a magnesium supplement. Whether it was like a gummy or whether it was calm or whatever we were using, we loved it because it helped keep us regular. It was helping us sleep. But magnesium, when we were looking for what we should add into this, I was like, oh, my God. Magnesium has such a big role in so many different things. So magnesium is linked to helping improve mood, sleep, exercise performance, blood sugar regulation, and more. You can get it in your food, but it requires a lot of leafy greens, nuts, different things like that, which a lot of people are not getting in their diet necessarily. And so putting magnesium in, I was just super excited to know that not only does this help you stay regular and feel good and help with nerve function and all the things, but it can also help you sleep. It might help with your bloating, especially if you take it at night, like waking up the next day. Like you and I have been noticing, when we take it at night, we just wake up feeling, like, leaner, leaner. And so I'm really excited about our magnesium as well, because it's from seawater, but we chose a really bioavailable magnesium.

That's why it's working. I love that even when I was traveling, I would drink one or Two gloces, you know, in my water bottle before I went to. To sleep at night, wake up way later, and I don't eat as good when I travel. Right. I'm doing, like, fun things with the team and all that. Still woke up super lean. I feel like I came back from this trip feeling really good and feeling what?

What? We're using it as you guys, like, Chris and I, it'll kind of like it's our end of the night. Like, okay, after this, we're not eating anything else. Like, kind of our snacking. Like, it's our little. It's our little snack hack. Like, we're like, okay, we'll have like a peppermint patty or something like the mini peppermint patties. But then you and I are like, okay, we're cutting it off.

The glossy. Shuts it off.

Our glossy, and then we're going to be good for the night.

I love that. All right, well, you just increased the discount for podcast listeners only of your show or of my show. And it's now 25% for a limited time. 25% off if you use code Happy. So go to get Gloce. That's G L O c. I get gloce.com, use coupon code happy, and now get a freaking 25% off. That's so dope. So let's talk about the trip that we were just talking about or referencing right there. You got a huge announcement. Speaking of traveling and glossy, you got one that kind of combines the two. What were you doing out there in Austin?

Oh, my gosh. I just got to go have some major strategy days with my new co founder, Natalie Ellis of Boss Babe and CEO Mama. And we came together kind of out of, like, I. I think we both weren't expecting each other, and she had really, really wanted to start a supplement company, and she just. Her main thing is Boss Babe and CEO Mama. And she was like, you know, I really, really want one, but I want to be partners with someone who, like, kind of runs it more than me. And also, it's like not her main main thing, but she comes into it a lot. And I was like, I would love to have a partner in this for, you know, like, big decisions, for brainstorming, just for so many things. Like, she brings such an opposite skill set of me. She is very structured, very linear. I can already tell you that. She's come in and just made everything just flow so much better. She's given me so much time back, like, helping me get really, really structured and it feels so incredibly good to work together. It's such a beautiful neutral, like respectful energy. So I'm really excited about that.

I'm so excited for you guys. It's such a powerhous team. It's just unreal. And this is like a congrats to you. You really leave numbers out of it. But she came in and bought a nice chunk of the company and so that's like a big evolution for Glossy is to have such a powerful partner that has skin in the game and this co ownership, which is really freaking cool. It's a perfect scenario. Well, that's what I wanted the episode to be about is how do you know when to take on a partner and how do you know it's going to be a good partnership? What kind of ground rules do you set down? Because I've got a business partner that I just freaking love. Like, oh my go, what a blessing to be business partners with Matt. And it's the reason why my company is on a rocket ship. You know, we're about to launch here in fall and this is not like a baby company. This is like millions and millions and millions of dollars that we put into development of this life changing fintech. That is insane. So how do you know when to get a partner and then how do you make that partnership a success?

So I was like not looking for a partner at the time, but I can say that I energetically was leaving the door open for the right partner.

Yeah, you were.

You know that I've been through like three different people potentially thinking about a partner and it just wasn't, it wasn't the right timing, it wasn't the right fit even. Just I know what I'm looking for. When I was looking for somebody to partner with now after having some experiences, I was like, I really want this person to be so enthusiastic about the product and the community and what we're creating. And I just feel like for me, when Natalie came in it was such a no brainer because she really wanted to start her own product because she's always, she's so into biohacking. Like if you watch her stories, every single morning she's taking like five to 10 to 15 different supplements and always telling you why and like what it's going to help with and she wants to optimize her health, her life, her schedule, like literally everything. So it was such a perfect fit for what she's already talking about, what she's already sharing with her audience. She comes with an incredible, incredible audience which is just such A bonus to glossy because it's the perfect audience fit for her women. And it's also such a fit for both of us to want to build even more community together and to now have a product to talk about. Like a product based business that we can also help women with. Like, we're not going to be able to help them in a product based business unless we have done it. And that feels like, that feels like it's going to be something so powerful for us to share in the future. Like, oh my gosh, guys, here were the, the trial and errors. Here's what, here's what worked, here's what didn't work. Here's what we can help you with, here's what we can't help you with. Like, I just feel like it's so powerful for what her and I are most passionate about and that is helping ambitious women to live the life of their dreams and have the business of their dreams.

I love that. You know, my partnership with Matt was born out of kind of the similar thing. You know, ours was from inception of the company. Yours is different because she came in and bought a chunk of the company, but they both were born out of the same thing. And that is opposite skill sets. You know, Natalie is an incredible linear thinking operator, right? And she just crushes it in like the brand building and all these other things. And you guys have some crossover, but you have a lot of opposite skill sets that fills missing gaps. And same thing with Matt and I. You know, Matt and I have very opposite skill sets that when you put them together, it fills the missing gaps. And I've kind of got these rules of business partnerships, right? And that's rule number two is you never. And I know I didn't share rule number one. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. I'll share it in a minute. But rule number two is, hey, y'.

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If you're gonna partner with somebody, it must be because you have strong complementary opposite skill sets so that you are checking off more boxes that you can't check off very well yourself. It's going to create more efficiency. It's probably going to bring the cost of operating down and it's going to cause more of a rocket ship growth in your company because now you're not struggling to do x, y and z. The other person's wheelhouse happens to be x, y and z. So you operate in your skill sets of a, b and c. They operate in their skill sets of x, y and z. You trust each other to stay in your zones of genius. And now the company takes off. And so that's rule number two. Rule number one with when it comes to partnership, business partnerships is this. Four out of five of you that think you want a business partnership don't actually need one. And this is very important to talk about because people see the two of you, guess what they're going to do. They're going to go rushing into partnerships. They're going to see the launch of furlough. Guess what they're going to do. They're going rushing into partnerships. And the truth is, four out of five of you actually don't need a partnership. A lot of you try and force partnerships or you think in the beginning, oh, my gosh, this is going to be great. You know, Kris just said, Rule number two, if I'm good at 1, 2, 3, and they're good at ABC together, we're going to conquer the world. But what you don't realize is a lot of times you can hire out some of those skill sets for a little bit cheaper than literally creating a marriage, because that's what a partnership is. It's a business marriage, but without the perks of sleeping together.

Yeah. I'm actually reading a really good book right now by the founder of Monday Swimwear. And she does have a business partnership. Her name is Tosh Oakley. But she talks about all the different reasons to get a co founder. And a lot of times she talks about, like, don't think that you have to go into a 5050 partnership. Like, in fact, most partnerships should not ever be 50 because one partner will always bring a lot more than the other partner.

And you create an impasse if you're 50.

50, absolutely. Like with, with Natalie and I, like, she wants, you know, boss, babe. She wants the buck to stop with her and to be able to make all the decisions in that company. And then for me, with Glossy, it's like the, the final decision is with me because I'm, I own more of the company than her. And so what that did was when we would have hard conversations, it's like, who's the person who makes that final decision? These are the things that you have to talk about and you have to, to have these conversations within your relationship. And Natalie was actually the one who, like, really was firm on making sure that we knew exactly, you know, what our roles were and who was making final decisions, like, so, so clear so that we never had, you know, a communication problem.

Yeah. And that actually brings us to rule number three. It's a great segue. And rule number three is have the hard conversations up front. Like other partnerships that you were entertaining. You had the hard conversations up front. You're like, you know what? Love you, great friendship, but this is not going to probably work out as a partnership. And therefore you saved the space for the right partnership. Same thing with Matt and I when we decided that we're going to do frellow. When we were going to build Frello, we flew to Miami, spent a couple days out there. We actually brought our friend Darren, who's a brilliant businessman, to be like an arbitrator, if you will, or help us see other blind spots. And we sat there by the pool for a couple days having the tough conversations. Hey, you know, you already sold a company and you've got life changing wealth. What happens if you're not motivated to do this in a couple years? Or, hey, what are the traits that, you know, you have that might trigger a Business partner and what are the traits I know I have that might trigger a business? And we would literally put it out there, right? And I'd be like, hey, I've got this thing in the morning called protected time. And you may or may not like it, but it's a non negotiable for me. And guess what? When you put that out there, if you agree to move forward now, the other person can't get upset about it because they agreed to move forward. Matt listed his things and now once he listed him, I can't get upset because sure enough, he's showing up the way he said he would show up. And it takes all the stress or anger or story building out of a partnership when you have the tough conversations up front. Here's what I think you'll like about me. Here's what might trigger you about me, what triggers you about other partnerships you've had. Here's what's triggered me in other partnerships I've had. How are we. This is a really important one. How are we going to define our value? Because it's not always a measurable thing. You talked about the 50. 50. It's very true, you guys. People's skill sets that they bring to the table, there's seasons for them. So one person might be shining during, I don't know, like fundraising season, but then they're not going to shine as much when the other person's shining during series A or during, you know, running the team or whatever it might be.

What's a Series A for the people?

It's usually your second large institutional round of fundraising when you have a company where you're going to raise a few rounds before you sell it, it.

Because your first round is typically like angel investors.

Yeah.

Just like friends and family. Another word for friends and family.

Absolutely, absolutely. The point is you're going to have to be able to measure value and not build a story around. Hey, you were really kicking ass in the first year and this year I feel like you're not doing as much. Well, that's because maybe they were in a season where the first year required them to be at their best, and now the second year or third year requires you to be at your best.

Right.

And it's going to ebb and flow. And where I see partnerships get in trouble is they make up stories around you used to be doing more than you are now, and they forget about that value that got them off the ground or vice versa.

Yep.

So that's rule number three and rule number four, when it Comes to business partnerships is regular check ins. Like just like you and I do, you know, every day we're checking in with each other through our power nine on our walks. You have to have built in check ins with your business partner. Again, smoke not fire. Put things out when they're just smoke, not when they are a raging forest fire. And so every time I go to Virginia, because my whole team is based in Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, I fly out there. And my very first meeting when I'm out there for a few days is my first meeting is with Matt. We typically go to dinner or sometimes it has to be a brunch if I get in really late that night and we'll have a few hour meeting around. Okay, you know, how's it going? How am I showing up for you? How you showing up for me? Hey, by the way, I talked to this person. Here's what's going on over here. It's just things that may not be pertinent to the whole team or that would slow down the team. You got to have that check in meeting with your partner on a regular scheduled basis first. And you know, that's why you were just out in Austin. You just did that with Natalie.

So we could have met on Zoom for sure. We talked about it. She even called me and was like, hey, I think I have like a 24 hour bug. Do you still want to come? But I feel better today. I'm like, I'm coming. It's fine no matter what happens. Because for me, the power of being in person is like, it's like nothing else. So her and I are going to make sure that we not only, you know, have our, our meetings that we do every week, but also that we check in in person.

Yeah. And it bonds you. I'm so glad you added the in person part to this. Guys, this is crucial. Don't pinch pennies. Even when you don't feel like it. You got to go in person because that's what bonds your relationship more. Even the little things. Like on my last trip out to Virginia this week, I got to go to Matt's dad's amazing barbecue place. Like, I don't even know how to describe it. It's called the Corner Market. So freaking cute and awesome. And he makes the best barbecue in Virginia. Like this place is famous. And I got to meet his dad and then his dad was playing in his band there. You know, 73 year old dad is playing in his band there. And it was just really neat to be able to get to know him. On that level. And if you're meeting on Zoom all the time, you don't get to see those things. You don't get to be on that level. Same thing with you. You stayed at Natalie's house, and obviously they've been friends of ours for a long time, but you got to sit on the couch with Noemi, and you said she kept trying to push her foot against gears, like, those little cute bonding moments. That's what's going to keep your partnership bonded from a caring about each other standpoint, not just from a numbers and chart standpoint. And that's incredibly important.

Yeah, there's something that just happens when you're in person. There's. There's conversations that come up that literally would not come up without being in person.

Yeah. So those are my. My four rules of partnership. I'm telling you guys, if you follow those, then you'll know when and why to have a partnership, and it'll probably be pretty damn successful. I know I've had a failed partnership in the past, and it's because I didn't know these rules back then. So I'm telling you, take the time, if you're going to explore it, to go this route.

Before, you know, Natalie and I signed on, I talked to, like, four different people who have been in partnerships multiple times, and I asked everything, like, what should I be thinking of? What questions should I be asking? Where did your past partnerships fall apart? Like, where have you succeeded? Like, what's. What energy should I be going into this with? Like, what's a red flag?

What's.

You know, how do I. How do I have this conversation? I did not go into this without literally talking to so many of my friends who have done this before, because I want it to be successful, and I wanted not to be delusional about it and get high on the things that maybe I thought were like, oh, this is why I have to do this. I wanted to really know, like, I really, really wanted to know that this was going to be something that was going to be lasting, long term, mutually beneficial, and obviously benefit most beneficial for the company.

Yeah, totally. All right, guys. So hopefully that helps if you're exploring it. It can be an incredible benefit to have the right partner, and it can be the worst thing that's ever happened to you if you choose the wrong one. So hopefully this helps a little bit. Borrow from our experience to learn what to do and what not to do when it comes to your business. By the way, speaking of business, we have one room left for our Italy trip. I know it sold way faster than expected. One room. That means one individual or one couple can come to Italy with us on this hybrid experiential mastermind that we're doing in Florence. And in Tuscany, you guys, once in a lifetime experiences like, like dinner with the Ferragamos, you know, the famous fashion brand. Literally just a small intimate dinner with them. We've had dinner with them before. They're remarkable and picking their brain about what's it like to build such a legacy company. It's been through generation after generation after shutting down famous churches for tours, helicopter rides in a famous vineyards. Like it's freaking nuts what we're doing. There's one room left. So go to Chrisharder me again, that is Chrisharder me m e Italy and either grab that last room or DM us. We're happy to answer any questions that you have about it. It's half individuals and half couples. A perfect mix. So whether you're an individual or whether you're a couple, you're going to fit right in. Chrisharder me Italy can't wait to travel with you in October.

We'll see you soon, Sam.