Questions to Ask Yourself Before Signing a Partnership Contract
Choosing a home based business partner is something you want to put a great deal of thought into. Like anything else, having a home based business partner has an upside and a downside. So before you sign those partnership papers and head out for a celebratory drink, you want to make sure you’ve chosen the right one for your home based business. Here are some questions to guide you in making your decision.
- Are you compatible? Being great golfing buddies does not mean that the two of you will get along well as home based business partners. You want to be comfortable with your partner and enjoy being around them. Still,
in most cases, a too-close friendship is not advised. Why? Being extremely close friends with you business partner can keep you from challenging them or offering constructive criticism. This might inhibit your partner also. This can cause resentments to flair up between you that are difficult, if not impossible, to resolve. So when choosing your home based business partner, make sure the person is someone you’ll enjoy being with, but remember that your business must take priority over feelings and friendship.
- Do you share the same values? A great home based business partner will share your business values. You may not approach business or your work in the same manner, but when it comes to the big picture, like how to grow your home based business and what the goals of your business are, your partner should be in agreement. Sharing the same values with your partner gives both your partnership and your home based business a better shot at success and greater productivity.
- Is the person’s personal life stable? Knowing this is important because too often personal dramas have a way of spilling over into a person’s work life. While everyone will go through times when this cannot be helped, a person whose life is a high drama all the time can be a drain on you, rather than a help. The whole purpose of having a partner is to have someone to share the load. If your home based business partner is something of a drama king or queen, it’s likely they’ll be unable to give the business the attention and dedication it needs to be successful.
- Do you have a common vision? Where your home based business is concerned, the two of you need to have the same goals and beliefs about what your home based business is about, where you want it to go, and how you want it to get there. Agreeing on these fundamentals can make or break a home based business. While differences of opinion are always going to occur and can even be good in that they may open your eyes to new, better ways of doing things, agreement on the fundamentals is vital to ensuring your home based business will succeed.
- What skills and abilities will the person bring to your home based business? This should be a lot more than just wanting to have a home based business, just like you do. And it’s usually better when the partner has a totally different skills and talents than you have. If both of you are only interested and capable of doing the exact, same tasks, then your home based business will not be a well-rounded one. This can also cause jealousy down the road when one of you, perhaps, gets more recognition than the other. Good home based business partners have abilities that complement each other—much like they do in a good marriage!
Charles Fuchshttp://www.charlesfuchs.comhttp://charlesfuchs.blogspot.comI grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.
