The Goal: Fix Your Partnership Problems Before It’s Too Late
If partners won’t talk, it becomes impossible to work things out. At that point, buyout might be the only option.
Act While There is Time. Cut the stress for 2019.
Do Not Stop Working if You Want to Leave the Partnership
When the business partnership breaks down, the darker sides of the personalities come through. A dominant partner turns into a bully. A person who does not do well with conflict will withdraw. As the bully gets more aggressive, the pacifist withdraws further. Eventually, the bully gets so angry they are ready to lock the other partner out. The pacifist quits coming in. The next blowout is over money. The course is as logically predictable as what will happen to your car if you hit the highway with no oil in the engine. It will get louder and louder until the engine seizes.
How to Draft Resolutions to Strengthen Your Partnership
I recommend that partners talk through a specific issue and then draft an agreement (called a resolution) that sets a policy. You can keep this in a binder to serve as amendments (or foundation) to your Partnership Agreement. In this post I’ll explain how to talk about things that bug you with your partner and how to draft a binding resolution to fix the problems.
When Politics and Business Partners Don’t Mix
Unless you are in some sort of political business, you should keep politics out of your establishment completely. Of course, you have freedom of speech, but we are in very contentious times and displays of political or religious positions might be off-putting to to your customers.
Relatives Should Never Keep the Books in a Business Partnership
Even when people get along well, having one partner’s relative handling the books just isn’t good policy. There is an inherent conflict of interest.
Message from Chris
“The only time a partnership issue cannot be resolved is when the tension gets so bad that neither party will talk to each other. When you reach that point, it’s pretty hard to start a meaningful dialogue. On the positive side, no matter how tense the partnership, if partners are talking things can be worked out”
I Help Fix Partnership Problems
Yes, sometimes my work is stressful. It’s also very rewarding when I hear those magic words, “yes, I can agree to that.” That’s the instant everything starts to get better. When I help work out a partnership problem, I try to take the friction away so that we can have calm and productive discussions. You would be amazed at how much can be accomplished in a short time once the emotions are out of the way and we can focus on specific ways to eliminate the tension. Many of my clients tell me that the process is therapeutic. For me, yes, there is stress because I want everything to work out, but it’s amazing to be a part of helping so many businesses succeed. I love my work.
