If each partner’s individual commitment to the business is less than 100%, then the partnership and the business are on shaky ground. The problem stems from thinking you have made the 100% commitment, but in fact you haven't. You cannot possibly make a complete commitment to a partnership until the partners have outlined in detail what that commitment entails. It’s big! The 100% commitment requires that you will see things through no matter how rough it gets.
What do you need to address in order to make the commitment solid? The answer is in two areas: Your character, and a solid business plan.
Character
What do you know about yourself and your partner(s) in terms of how you each handle things under dire circumstances? This requires a deep sense of honesty with yourself and each other.
You must have conversations about how you have handled things in your past. Were there other partnerships? Alliances? What did you do or would you now do differently to make it work before concluding that a split is the only way? If a split was necessary how did you handle it? Do any of you have a pattern of not finishing things or keeping your word? Start by analyzing yourself. “When the going gets tough the tough go shopping” is the joke, but what do YOU do when the going gets tough?
A history of broken commitments does not have to be the end of it all if you have learned from those situations. Some relationships are better ended What is important are the lessons you learn about yourself, about relationships and about how you stay the course.
Business Plan
Why is the business plan needed in order to successfully establish the 100% commitment? If partners have not talked in the greatest details of how the business will run and what each person's job description is and then written all of it into a business plan, the commitment cannot be considered solid.
Many times people begin a business on the basis of what they think is a good idea and because they have complementary skills. They skip talking about the nitty-gritty details about who will do what and who will cover what they don’t each do. They begin to work and, though things may seem to be running smoothly at first, shortly thereafter, problems arise. The problems often arise when one partner begins to feel like they are doing much more than the other and is not being recognized for it. Sometimes both or all partners feel this way.
100% commitment means you don't have the tiniest of safeguards that allow you to have one foot out the door just in case. Playing it safe for yourself is a big risk for the business and the partnership.
Dale and Harry have had a long term successful partnership. Each separately experienced a prior failed partnership with someone else. I interviewed them to find out what they view as the reasons for their success. You can hear what they have to say about commitment to the business and each other. Listen to me interview them. They are the first of 3 successful partnership mp3 interviews you will receive when you sign up for my FREE partnership assessment at http://www.businesspartnershipsuccess.com
You will also receive two additional interviews of successful partnerships, one a married couple. You can learn a lot from these people who graciously share their stories.
Here are some additional tools I suggest for you:
If you are considering a partnership or would like to go back and do some of the thoughtful work you skipped before becoming partners get the 15 very important questions to ask yourself and your partner for only $14.95.
www.coachingforyournextlevel.com .... click on business partners in the left menu.
Invest in yourselves by purchasing the Blueprint package including the “What If” Scenarios, the 7C's Danger Signs to Avoid and other bonuses. See the description at www.businesspartnershipsolutions.com. At an introductory price of $497 you will get a very worthwhile return on this small investment.
If you are a coach to entrepreneurs who may be in a partnership or considering one, you can use these tools in your process of coaching them. More tools to come....
You have made a serious investment, both financially and emotionally to create this business. Do everything you can to make it a joyful success.
Feel free to email your comments and questions. info@businesspartnershipsolutions.com
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Great article and lots of good information! thanks for sharing it. you are right, partnerships come in all forms and can be miserable if not set up in a good way from the get go!
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