{"id":3936,"date":"2021-05-26T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/?p=2001"},"modified":"2022-06-27T17:08:11","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T09:08:11","slug":"find-business-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/find-business-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Find a Kick-ass Business Partner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So your business is picking up, surpassing its KPIs<\/a>, and is growing at a faster scale than you have anticipated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between tending to orders, marketing, selling and managing your new staff, you are juggling more hats than you could manage. If this is you, you might want to consider teaming up with someone on this business venture. While starting a business can be done on your own, no empire was ever built with just two hands.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If SM\u2019s Henry Sy<\/a>, National Bookstore\u2019s Socorro Ramos<\/a>, and even Jollibee\u2019s Tony Tan<\/a> built their empires with the help of business partners, why can\u2019t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kinds of business partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Source: Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But before jumping on the partnership train, consider the capacity you\u2019ll need to delegate<\/strong>. Do you need a full-time 50\/50 business partner? A partner just to help out with marketing? Or a partner who can provide extra capital? Reflecting on capacity distribution will help you decide which between these two kinds of partnerships you\u2019ll need and what skill set they should have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

General Partnership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

General partnership<\/a> is when all partners actively participate in business-building<\/strong> from investment<\/strong>, management<\/strong>, to everyday operations<\/strong>. While co-founders usually decide on an equal split of everything: equity, workload, and profit, there\u2019s also a type of general partnership where one partner owns more than the other. Partner A could have 70% equity while partner B gets the remaining 30%, granted that partner A invests more money in the company and does 70% of the everyday tasks, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limited Partnership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Limited partners<\/a> are basically investors<\/strong>. These are your \u201csilent partners\u201d<\/strong> who invest a certain amount of money<\/strong> to be a part of the company without being involved in the daily activities and decision making of the business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If partner A and partner B are co-founders and decide they want to scale their business but need more capital to make this happen, they can engage partner C in a limited partnership, wherein partner C gives x amount of money<\/em> in exchange of equity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest differences between the two partnerships is participation in everyday tasks<\/strong> and liability<\/strong>.<\/a> In case something bad happens to the business, limited partners\u2019 cannot be sued and their personal assets cannot be chased after, wherein that of a general partner can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions to ask when looking for a business partners<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Source: Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What can they contribute that you can\u2019t?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, your business partner should be able to fill in the gaps<\/strong> and complement what you do, not copy it. Having a partner that complements your skill set not only makes your business more sturdy, but also gives you an extra pair of eyes that covers your blind spots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is their life\u2019s mission?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Partnering with someone is like marriage; your values have to be aligned<\/strong> from inside out. And to make it work, you\u2019ll need a partner who has a similar life mission as you. Maybe it\u2019s social change, financial stability, credibility, or industry disruption. Being aligned on this ensures that all partners will be as committed to making the business succeed as if their lives depended on it, because it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s their exit strategy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Every business has 3 exit points: sell <\/strong>your business to a bigger company, go public<\/strong>, or pass it on <\/strong>to the next generation. Choosing a business partner who understands this and can agree with you on the exit, will save you future lawsuits. This will also help you make everyday decisions that direct your business towards your exit strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do they know how to fight?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Like any relationship, you and your business partners are bound to disagree on some things. And the deciding factor to knowing if that partnership will  make it through is whether they know how to fight<\/strong><\/a> or not. Get a partner who is able to keep things professional even in the heat of a disagreement<\/strong>. Set boundaries to manage conflicts and set them early to see if your potential partner can abide by them and put the business first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are they reliable?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do they take accountability for good and bad things?<\/strong> Do they show up on time? Do they bring more solutions than problems? Do they communicate effectively? Do they prioritize integrity? Remember that while nobody is perfect, it\u2019s always nice to know how your partners will respond and if they truly have your back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to find these potential business partners <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Source: Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Potential business partners could be friends<\/strong>, previous employees<\/strong>, friends of friends<\/strong>, or complete strangers<\/strong>. While there is no clear-cut answer to this, here are a few tips to getting closer to meeting your potential business partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conservative route<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where you depend on personal referrals from your friends<\/strong>, former schoolmates<\/strong>, and mentors<\/strong>. You can put out the word for the kind of person you\u2019re looking for and wait for referrals. You can also be a bit more proactive by connecting with like-minded people and attending webinars and networking events like #RaidTheFridge by Kickstart Ventures<\/a>, or startup meets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern route<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And just like dating there\u2019s a whole world of potential business partners on the internet. You can do a LinkedIn search<\/a> or check out apps like Techofounder<\/a>, Founder2be,<\/a> Cofounderslab,<\/a> Startupjobs Asia,<\/a> Start Hawk, <\/a>and many more!
It might take months<\/strong>, years<\/strong>, or even a few failed business marriages to get it right, but it\u2019s all about learning from every endeavor and making sure you take the time to really know these potential business partners<\/strong> before signing above the dotted lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Featured image by Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No empire was ever built with just two hands. And if you\u2019re looking for the right business partner to help you scale your business, here are some tips to finding the right one!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"If starting or expanding your business might be a little too daunting for you, try it with a business partner. Here's how to find the right partner for you.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[201,69],"tags":[115,128],"class_list":["post-3936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beginner-smes","category-business-basics","tag-jollibee","tag-partnership"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3936"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5518,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3936\/revisions\/5518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ninjavan.co\/en-ph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}