I’ll Never Find Another You

A partnership in your business can be one of the most important aspects of how you succeed in the world of modern interior design.  But, like many marriages, a partnership can be a challenge many of us might want to reconsider.  Whether or not you decide to create a partnership and how you go about finding just the right partner is both a delicate and challenging question.  A partner can bring money, talent, management skills or additional clients.  All of these things are important for your business and should be considered when selecting a partner.  This is also the type of choice you don’t want to make over a “speed dating” type of evening with a few drinks.  You must first decide what it is you’re looking for in a partner and who you know who might fit in with your plans.  You will want to meet a number of times for each of you to present ideas and thoughts about why the partnership will work and how it will be structured.  There are as many ways to structure a partnership as there are days in the year.  One of the easiest ways to start is with a standard contract either found on the internet or through your attorney.  Then, as the conversations progress, each party will add or delete items in the contract that are beneficial or unattractive to each.  And, partnerships can be more than two people.  You may have even decided to make each member of your firm a partner.  Again, it’s up to you.  Whatever you decide make sure you create an exit strategy that doesn’t require the sale of the business to remove a partner or allow him or her to leave. 

Leaving, of course, can be one of the hardest parts of partnerships.  What do you do when the partner who has been bringing in the most business decides to leave?  Either to create his or her own business or simply to retire from the business.  What happens when the partner most adept at contract negotiations departs for greener pastures?  Or your budget and accounting whiz partner takes a powder?  Don’t think in terms of replacement only.  Each of these situations requires you assess the changed needs of the partnership and what might now be best for your business.  You may find you aren’t looking for the same type of partner who just left.  Your needs and the needs of the business will have changed somewhat over the years and now might be the best time to evaluate each partner in the firm and whether or not they have lived up to expectations.  Indeed, a review like that should probably happen every year or two at the most.  It’s so easy to let things go along without a review every once and a while.  Beware, however, letting your business slip into complacency.  To remain competitive you need to remain vigilant.  With that vigilance comes the added burden of timely evaluations of the current situation.  So, you might not find exactly the same type of partner that is leaving or has left your firm, you might just find the newest and best partner for this particular cycle of your business. 

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[Owner Financed Homes]

Your are right marriage partner may challenge my success....