Joint Business Owners

In this article, I'm not going into the ins & outs of the ups & down I've experienced with my business partners within my company as that is not in my nature. The reason for this article is to explain what a partnership should look like & how to correct some of the various situations that you can end up in. My own ambition has to some degree been my own worst enemy over the years, whereas when a business partner has not kept to their end of the bargain or slacked off working, I have ignored the situation and taken up the slack - it wasn't healthy for me to do that and I have learnt far better ways of dealing with situations that have risen, without causing disagreements or tension.

Disambiguation regarding responsibilities - getting hot headed about a situation is futile, this only causes more areas of distraction & more problems to solve within any relationship. Disambiguation refers to the removal of the unclear terms of an agreement. I've experienced on many occasions where a business partner was quite happy to sit back and let me do all of the work, which in a way made the long term situation my own fault for not saying anything sooner, all I did was teach them it was ok to do very little while I carried the weight. This may be ok when the workload is very little, but lets say after employing 5 people, doing everything can become a drain hole of your energy.

I found the best way to approach the situation, was to write a list of all of the tasks I was doing & present those tasks to my partner, explain to them the imminent requirement for focus on particular tasks for the longevity of the business & then ask them to provide a list of the tasks that they are dealing with.

This reverses the situation, you won't essentially have to ask for help, this will help set clear work-scope's that the company are currently undertaking & if your partner is doing far less, then they will see immediately that you recognise this factor & most likely react by taking on some of the day to day roles to make the task list fair. Another benefit to this is that you can both then sit together & work out a way to better communicate where the business is going & help build your 30-60 day focused plans between you, prioritising objectives.

The bottom line, communication is key - have some respect for yourself, business partnerships aren't about making friends or keeping friends, its about ensuring profitability in a fair manner.

Politics - Jealousy is playground material. Once upon a time, I had a business partner twice my senior & he acted as though he was twice my junior. Cohesion is an important aspect of life & respect, not only for yourself but for others. Cohesion is about everybody in the team believing in their own skills & being sure enough of themselves to recognise the skills of others. Jealousy causes rifts within the business & contention between employees & associates, if the situation becomes political. Its not something I've ever felt towards another, if somebody is doing better than me, it gives me something to work towards. If a younger person is doing well, I want to help them do better. I've suffered from these politics & they had small rippling effects. Again, its a partnership, sending an email or confronting the individual in a calm respectful manner to ask if there is an issue, can often make the individual aware that you are smart enough to recognise situations beyond what the eye can see. It may blow up in your face, as I've experienced, the person may get very defensive about the situation & scream, shout, throw there toys out of the pram. Don't get yourself into a fight over anything in business, simply walk away & readjust your outlook on what you consider to be the way forward, write a constructive email to state what you recognise as the issue & take it from there. Remember to never accuse. If this doesn't work, ask for their solution to the problem.. In my experience, you are better to be a team player leading the team, than be led by somebody you have no respect for. If all else fails, its time to look for an opportunity where you can put your professional skills to good use, without the politics.

Paid Time - this kind of relates back to the responsibilities subject. By definition, I was the most underpaid employee within my business because I put in more time & effort than anyone else ever did. To solve this issue of remunerating your time, discuss with your partners the requirement for either more responsibilities to be shared or a salary increase for yourself. Its not unfair to ask when the company's liquidity comes down to your hard work. I've often recognised that if I walked away for a week, the company would most probably stand still. Time is money, don't let the bitterness build up because this causes mental distraction & stress factors which can have a detrimental effect on your health.

Professional Observations - Michelle Obama (a lady I highly admire) made a statement along the lines of, "Don’t waste your seat at the table. If you’re scared to use your voice, then you have to get up and let someone else in there who’s going to use it.”

My voice & my thoughts are my greatest weapons. In a partnership, you have to speak openly & converse positively. It's not always about making observations that are correct, it's about making observations to review, ensuring everybody is on the same page & all possible outlooks can be considered. In business relationships between shareholders or directors, it is the responsibility of every person who has a seat at the table to speak up on any observations they have made, to ensure that nothing is missed. You can't throw in a comment later down the line that you did already think of that situations whether positive or negative, because this can cause contention that isn't needed. Partnerships are about making joint decisions, not poking each other in the eye or being the one who is always right, so use your voice as the communication method it's intended for. Business becomes so much easier & more efficient when you begin doing this. Remember that if both or all partners agree all of the time, then one or more is not required. Welcome new perspectives.