9 Tips for a Healthy Business Partnership That You Won't Learn in Business School
Business partnerships are crucial to the success of the business. They can help a business thrive, or they can sink it quick. My partnership with my business partner at Tin Shingle, Sabina Ptacin, started in 2008, and it's still beating. We have been through weddings, children, family vacations, legal issues and more, and we constantly strive to keep our business partnership healthy.
We define our style as a "holistic business" approach, where we try to balance our work load with our life load, and it has worked so far. Here are 9 real-life tips that you won't learn in business school for how to maintain a healthy and thriving business partnership:
- Be open and honest. Honesty is crucial to a business partnership. Being comfortable enough to voice your concerns to your business partner is key. Your concerns may be valid, or you just may be fearing a situation that your partner sees in a different way and can illustrate his or her strategy.
- Be respectful of your partner's time. You and your business partner have lives. If you know your partner is out, don't stalk them via phone or email. If your partner is preparing for a big meeting, give them the space to do that.
- Don't email at night. Especially emails where you are bugged about something. Back away, far away from the computer, or put down your smart phone if you feel the urge to email your partner about something that is bugging you. At night, our defenses are down and we're tired. Your tone has a good chance of coming across too harsh, and your partner stands a better chance of mis-interpretting.
- Don't email on Sunday. Sunday is a day of rest. Even if we are working very hard getting groceries for the family or prepping for a big dinner. Entrepreneurs have a lot to juggle, and need the time to not think about work, so that fresh ideas can come present themselves. If you are working on a Sunday and are typing up emails that your partner needs to see, save it as a Draft and send it on Monday. Yes, entrepreneurs usually plug back in on Sunday night to prepare for the coming week, but let your partner have this quiet prep time.
- So many ideas! Your inbox overfloweth. Entrepreneurs are great at having ideas. Sometimes, ideas can get pinged back and forth via emails, and eventually putter out and get forgotten about. Consider putting some of your more serious ideas into agenda notes for a weekly or bi-weekly meeting that the two of you have, were you only talk about your business growth.
- Send a nice note. The picture in this article is an actual greeting card that my partner snail-mailed to me during a scary legal time in our business. She was my rock when every morning we were faced with something new and scary in our inboxes. To keep it real, she sent me this greeting card that explained perfectly our relationship. We compliment each other, we respect each other, and I felt the support right away upon opening.
- Compliment each other. It's easy to be critical. You want to build an amazing company, so you're trying to get it right every minute of the day. Take time to compliment or virtually high five your business partner.
- Same team. Remember that you are on the same team and are 100% all in this to win it. If your partner is giving you criticism, remember that you both want what is best for the company, so will find a solution.
- Be realistic and listen to your own yellow flags. You may respect your business partner, but if something is not working, you may need to get in touch with your priorities and goals and reassess the situation. A partnership breakup can be hard, but if mis-aligned components of it are caught early, the friendship and professional relationship could be saved.
A business partner can be an amazing asset to growing a business. Nurture it well, and your business could thrive.
