When it comes to the success of your business, you need to make sure that you have a strong team around you. This article will explore what makes for a successful business partner, and how to tell if someone is the right fit for your business.
- Shares Your Goals
In order to avoid partnership disputes, a good business partner needs to know and share the goals together. They aren’t just working towards their own success: they’re also helping you to achieve yours. They might have a different approach than you do, but you both understand that committing to the same end goal keeps the partnership strong. Then asking about your partner’s goals can help build trust and ensure that both parties are on the same page when it comes time to make decisions or take actionable steps toward achieving those goals.
Suppose they take an idea or suggestion into consideration without giving much thought or consideration. In that case, it may be a sign that they don’t fully share your vision or necessarily care about achieving its success or yours. If this happens repeatedly during discussions about how best to move forward with some aspect of running your business together, then perhaps it’s time for either party (or both) to reconsider whether this partnership is still worth pursuing.
- Offers Alternative Options
A good business partner is not going to just say “no” to your ideas. They will look at the big picture and see how their suggestions might affect other aspects of your business. If they realize that a suggestion will go against your core values, they’ll be willing to compromise and offer alternative options that work with both parties needs.
A good business partner should also be an active listener, they need to understand what you’re asking for before offering suggestions or making decisions. Your goals and objectives will help them understand what kind of solution would best meet those needs, but if they aren’t listening carefully enough, then it’s likely that their proposed solutions won’t be liable for your unique circumstances.
- Contributes Equally
You and your partner should contribute equally to the project. In other words, both of you should be contributing equal amounts of time and effort. This is important because it helps ensure both parties feel like they’re getting a fair deal from their partnership. If one person works more than another, it can cause resentment or frustration with their partner down the line if they feel like they weren’t compensated for their efforts in any way.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that each person has to do everything themselves that would be impossible. It does mean that both parties will share responsibility for carrying out tasks related to the business venture as well as sharing decision-making power when necessary. At times this process can be challenging but also rewarding because it means that each party gets an opportunity at working together more closely toward achieving something great.
- Challenges Assumptions
A successful business partner will help you to overcome challenges and develop solutions that are unique to your organization. They challenge assumptions, provide alternative options, ask questions and actively seek out new ways of thinking. A great business partner asks “why?” a lot which is crucial when you consider all the work you do every day is driven by your assumptions about how things should be done. They’ll make you think outside the box at times; they encourage risk-taking as it’s often through taking risks that you learn new things about yourself and are able to experience growth as individuals and businesses.
- Actively Listens
Active listening is a skill that can be learned. It is not the same as hearing, and it involves more than just saying “yes” or “uh-huh.” Active listening requires you to pay attention to the body language of your partner, as well as their tone of voice. This shows them respect, which will go a long way toward building trust between you two in the future.
The next time you are in a conversation with someone, try to actively listen. Pay attention to what they are saying, their body language, and their tone of voice. Try your best not to interrupt them or respond before they have finished speaking.
- Shares Your Values
Your values are the beliefs that guide you in life. They’re not just about money. It’s important to think about what your values are and how they relate to your business partner.
For example, you might value family above all else and want someone who shares those same values (so that if something comes up on the weekend, they would be willing to help). Or maybe you value integrity and want someone whose word is as good as gold (so if they promise something will happen by a certain date, it usually does).
It’s also important to make sure that their values align with your own. If one person is super concerned about environmental issues but another isn’t, for example, or one person cares more than the other then this could cause problems down the road when making decisions regarding sustainability or waste management policies. It would also affect how you run your business on a daily basis: If one person feels strongly against having employees work at night while another doesn’t mind at all because they love seeing their kids before bedtime every night then obviously that creates tension between them.
7. Trustworthy
Trust is the foundation of any successful business partnership, and it’s built over time. It is earned, not given you need to earn the trust of your partners by being honest and trustworthy in all your actions, whether it’s sending an invoice from your new business or asking for help with a particularly difficult project.
Trust is the key to success as an entrepreneur. If you’re unable to trust others, it may be time to reconsider who you choose as business partners and how much they can do for your career growth.
Conclusion
Hope you’ll find these characteristics to be helpful when choosing a business partner. Remember, the most important thing is that you get along with them and have a good time working together. If you feel like you can trust your partner, communicate well with them and share similar goals, then chances are high that they will make great contributions to your company as well.
Author Bio
Sally Smith, a woman who loves to read and write. At the present, she is very delighted to work with many aspiring small businesses. With the rise of the age of social media, it led her interest to centre around digital marketing and blogging.