Executive Diary – do you need business partners?
In the Executive Diary series, my audience will be severely limited. This is because I’m talking to you, to the business owners, to the directors of your own company. Why is it called Executive Diary? Because I live it everyday. And I think it would be great for you to have a point of reference when it comes to problems that you are having.
Today we will discuss on whether you should go starting a business by yourself, or having someone(s) with you from the beginning.
Tl; dr;
I strongly suggest to have at least one business partner. They provide invaluable resources that most business owners take it for granted. Some examples of them are:
- Keeping you accountable.
- Bringing skills and expertise that you don’t have to the business.
- Having a second set of eyes and perspectives to every problems in the business.
- Workload is shared, and you have less chance to burn out.
Why do we need a business partner?
Building a business from scratch is going out of our comfort zone in a massive manner. What it felt like to me is moving from a 38 degree hot spring pond into a cold shower. It challenged everything I thought I knew about running a business. Some people may start the business as a side hustle, and over time they add more and more time into the business. That is actually fine and there is nothing wrong with that.
However, once you are serious about the business, it’s time to jump into a full time role and there is a whole new world out there. That world can be monumentally terrifying, and sometimes you need a hand to keep yourself sane, to keep you accountable, and to bounce ideas off of. This is when a business partner comes into the picture.
Benefits of having a business partner
Apart from what we discussed above, a business partner also brings contacts, skills and expertise into the business. They can help you in fields that you are inexperienced in, for example, I know about accounting and finance, then I can partner with someone who has skills in operations. And together we can make the business whole. It is nigh impossible to have someone who knows everything. And while some people may argue that you can hire mentors and business coaches to help you with missing skills, the third parties will never have the commitment that your business partners have.
Another advantage is that you have extra sets of eyes when it comes to problems in the business. And believe me, there are a lot of them. You wouldn’t believe the things that a business owner may encounter daily, things that you wouldn’t think they exist, such as massive consequences when dealing with both Russia and Ukraine companies under the effect of recent events… Back to the topic, having another eyes on the problems provide another perspective, and it is great to see the problem in different angles and we can find better solutions.
Moreover, having someone with you in the business reduces the workload working on the business. There are a LOT of tasks that you need to do once it comes to managing a business, especially when you have employees. In my case, we have over 40 employees in our company and even with the help from HR staff, we still have tons of work to do.
Limitation of having business partners
It’s not all fun and roses when having business partners. Like a coin, everything has two faces. I can only think of one thing when it comes to the other side of the coin. Decision making speed.
Sometimes, having too many options and over analysing can lead you to analysis paralysis. Therefore it can slow down the decision making process, especially if you only have 1 business partner as there is no deciding vote. It is recommended to have at least 3 people in the business with equal shares, so you can always put things into votes and resolve matters that way.
Summary
There are advantages and limitations when it comes to having business partners. However I believe that the pros outweigh the cons, and having at least one is recommended if anyone asks me.
“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
By Tuan Nguyen
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