According to David Nilssen, co-founder and CEO of Guidant Financial, starting a business with partners offers many benefits, not only to the company but also to the leader personally.
Asked by The Entrepreneur Insider network, “What are the benefits of starting a business with a partner?”, David emphasized that choosing a partner should not be taken lightly. Treat the partnership like a marriage. It should be someone who balances your strengths and weaknesses, whom you trust and respect, and with whom you want to share both the positives and negatives of leadership.
Aaron Harvey, co-founder and creative director of Ready Set Rocket, agrees that one should start a business with a partner because “two minds are always better than one, especially if they think and work differently when developing the business,” he says.
The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community that poses questions about entrepreneurship and careers, attracting contributions from knowledgeable, influential individuals in the American startup community.
Here are the reasons and benefits of having another person accompany you on your business journey, from the perspectives of David Nilssen and Aaron Harvey:
1. Balance Your Strengths
According to David, the important thing when choosing partners is that they balance your strengths. A good team brings together all 4 skills: planning, innovating, maintaining stability, and bringing everything together. These are also the elements needed to help a business grow. However, an individual usually excels in only 2 of these 4 areas.
Thus, working with a partner allows both people to balance their strengths and ensures work is handled smoothly in the way both of the 2 want.
David is a typical example. He understands why he must do what needs doing and go where he needs to go, but determining how to turn a plan into reality and when to begin is not his strength. Those, in turn, are his partner's strengths. “He is number one at seeing the big picture and breaking it into smaller projects that help us complete things step by step,” he says. “That balance has helped us go faster and farther.”
2. Challenge yourself
Collaboration is also an opportunity for leaders to challenge themselves. David's secret to finding partners is to “find someone you want both to collaborate with and to ‘compete’ against. That helps improve your skills,” he said.
Leadership is lonely work, and running a business alone can easily make you subjective and willful. Working with others, however, pushes and challenges you to think differently. It is also a way to keep the business on track.
3. Consider opposing viewpoints
The smartest decisions are rarely made by one person. Aaron recalls that he and his partner had different ways of thinking from the outset. They assessed risks and opportunities differently and sometimes became immersed in heated debates. By the end of the day, however, things would return to balance. This process regularly took place before the two agreed on a final decision, he says.
However, to find common ground, the two should agree on their vision and goals. In Aaron's team, disagreements over strategy or methods often produce better results for the company, provided both agree on the ultimate goal.
Ensuring the best interests of employees also helps leaders remain in control.
4. Strengthen a sense of responsibility
A sense of responsibility helps you work well, not only for yourself but also for others. Many entrepreneurs work effectively under the pressure of responsibility. Responsibility helps you sustain your performance, avoiding a pattern of working enthusiastically today but sluggishly tomorrow.
Moreover, if you ‘collapse,’ someone will always be there to lean on, protect you, and offer support. Working with someone trustworthy helps you move beyond the limits of everyday tasks and focus on developing the business.
Cooperation also makes you more responsible toward your work because it is not only your own concern; it affects other people's livelihoods.
5. Collaborate because… you cannot afford to hire
In successful business partnerships, David has often seen businesspeople offer technical experts a partnership under the title of “founder” because they could not afford to hire them.
In this case, fairness in the business and the benefits of the “co-founder” title are attractive enough to bring outsiders into the company's leadership and persuade them to work without demanding very high salaries.
6. Limit losses
Leadership is not all rosy; it also takes certain tolls, one of which is stress.
Pressure regularly comes to leaders. To prevent stress from affecting his work, Aaron practices keeping his mind clear through activities such as surfing or yoga, ensuring he becomes as little exhausted as possible.
Burnout can happen easily, especially after a leader has spent a long time working tirelessly to develop a company. However, if you are brought down, your colleagues can still step in and carry the load.
7. Have the opportunity to bond with someone
Partners have plenty of time to work together. This also helps them become closer and more connected.
In reality, it is easy to become distracted by the many relationships around us. Working with someone, however, gives you an opportunity to become closer, thereby reducing internal friction.
On this issue, David encourages leaders to seek support from a business coach.
8. Avoid equal partnerships
David advises partners to avoid equal (50-50) partnerships because ultimately a company still needs someone to make the final decision. Consider a situation where one of the 2 people wants to raise the share price or, worse, take over the company. Unless there is exceptional agreement, an equal partnership can easily reach a deadlock, meaning no decision is made.
Moreover, this kind of partnership can easily breed resentment and damage relationships. ‘I have seen many friendships “die” because of this kind of equality. It harms their companies and families,’ he said.
9. Find compatible colleagues
When Aaron started his business 7 years ago, the company had only 2 people: him and his business partner. This gave both of them considerable experience in developing the company, from creating strategies and maintaining steady growth to making a profit.
For a business seeking to scale, the owner needs the ability to devise strategies and solve difficulties. This also takes up most of a leader’s time.
10. Share the Burden
Having a partner helps leaders share the burden when the company is losing money. More than that, the partner is someone who makes you stand up after failure and focus on the next difficulty.
“I learned that a real loss can fade over time. But sharing the burden of loss can help both partners avoid becoming unsettled and remain more steadfast in pursuing their common goal. A partner is also someone with whom you can celebrate the small victories that you cannot share with subordinates.”
Ultimately, a compatible partner can be the reason a business succeeds. Take enough time to consider whom you want on your team and how far you can develop that partnership.
Chương trình liên quan tại YUP Education: X-Startup – khóa học khởi nghiệp «Khởi Chánh Nghiệp» · The Journey – lộ trình phát triển doanh nhân
