Starting, running, and growing a business with a partner can feel like a marriage of sorts. There’s excitement, optimism, and a perceived shared vision for the future. However, much like marriages and other intimate relationships, business partnerships can also face numerous challenges that, if not addressed, can lead to frustration, fractured relationships, lost money, and other less than ideal results. Whether you’re about to embark on a new business venture with a partner or you’re currently experiencing turbulence in your partnership, understanding the common pitfalls can help you navigate and possibly avoid the same fate.
Here are five significant reasons I’ve experienced why many business partnerships fail:
1. You and your partner both have the same skill set and are bringing the exact same thing to the table.
A. In any successful business partner relationship it’s imperative that your partner brings something you don’t. They must either have time you don’t have, capital you don’t have, or skills you don’t have. If they don’t have one of those three things, one of you isn’t needed and it may be better to embark on your business journey solo.
2. Unequal Contribution and Commitment.
A. Let’s be completely honest. If you were to thoroughly and accurately look at the overall contribution and value each partner plans to bring to the relationship and business, it’s most likely not going to be 50/50. Yet, this is the structure most partners agree to as they embark on their journey. Perceived or actual imbalances in contribution and commitment often times breed resentment and lead to one partner feeling undervalued or overburdened. This imbalance can manifest in various forms, including time, effort, capital investment, or expertise. When setting up your company, have the hard conversations up front about where the value is coming from and how that should be appropriately captured and compensated for. When you start making money, it will only amplify the dysfunction in this arena.
3. The inability to speak your fullest and deepest truth with your partner.
A. Comprehensive and honest communication is the backbone of any successful relationship, and business partnerships are no different. When partners fail to communicate openly and honestly, misunderstandings and resentment can quickly build up, leading to conflict and inefficiency. Partners often withhold telling their counterpart what they actually feel for the many stories (ie, fear) they have created as to why that would not be a good idea. Some of these stories may have some validity and be rooted in hard data from their past experiences, however many of these hold no real merit and have been fed by your unconscious conditioning.
4. Misaligned Goals and Values or a lack thereof.
A. When partners don’t have a clear goal or vision, or they have different visions for the future of the business or hold conflicting values, it can lead to strategic disagreements and a lack of cohesive direction. This misalignment can cause friction and make it difficult to make unified decisions.
A. Without clearly defined roles and responsibilities, partners can end up stepping on each other’s toes or neglecting critical aspects of the business. This can lead to inefficiency, duplication of efforts, and frustration
Signs one or multiple factors are negatively affecting you and the business
No matter if you’re just forming your company or you’ve been doing business for many years, it’s important to understand if you’re falling pray to some of the reasons why your partnership may or could be floundering. These signals let you know you could off track heading for a place you may not want to go
- You’ve lost the love and connection you once had for each other
- The feelings you have towards each other are amplifying in unproductive ways and you don’t have a productive outlet to express them
- You’re struggling with communication and can’t seem to fully connect
- You have misaligned future goals.
- You have an unclear division of labor and clarity in roles.
If you’ve found yourself here, take a deep breath and know this an opportunity for you and your partner to grow. When you’re in this place, It can seem daunting to figure out how to begin to unpack how you got there and to come back to connection when everything around you is buzzing a million miles an hour – and it feels like you don’t have the time, energy, or bandwidth to do what it’s going to take to deal with what’s on the table.
The first (and most important step) to begin creating a path forward to come back to yourself. This is the step I’ll highlight in the remaining part of this article, even though there are multiple step. Begin to see where you’ve left your voice, your needs, your vision, and what’s important to you behind for all the reasons you did (which is another whole section of the process). This is NOT a time to go into blaming your partner, pointing figures, and case building as to why what they are doing is not working. This is about you taking full responsibility for yourself, your needs, and how you’ve participated in creating the situation you did. This self reflective process requires you to ramp up your self awareness muscle and practice behaviours that may seem foreign or even uncomfortable. It’s after drilling down and getting clear that you formulate your equests for your partner. Keep in mind not all requests may be agreed to, but that doesn’t mean you should not present them, nor does it mean you and your partner can’t continue down your business path together. The critical part here is to stabalize your emotions, get clear on what it is that you need, express that in a way without shame, blame, or being passive aggressive, and engage in a conscious dialogue about how you want to both move forward.
Conclusion:
Business partnerships, like any relationship, require consistent effort, comprehensive communication, and a co-created and shared vision to succeed. By being aware of the common reasons partnerships fail and proactively addressing these issues, you can increase the likelihood of a successful and harmonious business relationship. Remember, the strength of your partnership is the foundation for the success of your business. Invest in your relationship with your business partner just as you would in any other important relationship in your life. Diversified resources, equitable contribution for value brought, comprehensive communication, clear role and responsibilities are the cornerstones of a thriving and compassionate business partnership
