Also historically they said they often disagreed with each other in meetings with their executive staff.  Because this took extra time and was not a good face to be presenting to those who had major responsibilities, they decided that when they found themselves disagreeing they would stop the discussion and say they would work out the disagreement at a later time and come back with a unified position next time. At this past week’s meeting they didn’t disagree in the meeting, but realized they didn’t agree and decided to discuss it afterward. By taking it up specifically after the meeting they were able to reach agreement and are prepared to come back next time with a unified statement. Both felt it wasn’t perfect, but that progress had been made.

The bottom line: in order to move forward on anything, agreement must be reached. When there is disagreement it saps energy and time and keeps things from moving forward.

In addition to finding out where they were together and where they were apart, I learned each of their strengths. I asked if there was a delineation of duties, with each having responsibility for specific areas. While it seems they knew their areas of strength they did not have anything like a table of organization.

So their first assignment was to agree that each would be the final decision-maker for specific areas. The husband took web site development and marketing; the wife took operations and product management. For projects they agreed that the individual responsible for the department bearing the bulk of the work would oversee the project from beginning to end and would assign tasks to the other departments if needed.

They also agreed that before major decisions were made in their areas they would run the details and facts by the other partner. If the other partner had issues or concerns they would take 24 – 48 hours to consider everything before making a final decision.

This change meant they would need to communicate the new structure to their department heads, which is on the agenda for next time.

They have used the new system for 2 weeks and things seem to have gone smoothly so far. We’ll see what comes up as new projects are started and the staff adjust to a clearer delineation of roles and responsibilities.

In her article, Laura Petrecca covers the good , the bad and the ugly parts of a business partnership. She quotes Barry Nalebuff, a Yales School of Management professor, who co-founded Honest Tea with former student Seth Goldman. He says “his partnership helped propel Honest Tea from $250,000 in sales in 1998 to $13.5 million by 2006. In 2008, Coca-Cola purchased 40% of the firm.” That’s quite a success story.

Laura’s case for a partnership is the extra skill set a partner provides, if done correctly. “With a company comrade, there is always someone to brainstorm with, to share work duties and, of course, to help carry the financial burden. An agreement covering the ownerships structure, financing and division of duties is a must”. And be sure to address contingencies like what happens if a partner becomes disabled or dies.

Laura includes examples and tips on handling issues between married partners, as well as family and friend partnerships. Reporting on two high school friends who formed a partnership, she quotes “Things have been a little rocky, but we’ve managed to stay afloat, …I think (the troubles) have helped our business get stronger and our friendship get stronger.”

The response to this call was amazing, so I know using partnerships for growth is a topic many people want to learn more about.

If you were interested but couldn’t be on the call, not to worry. Click here to listen to the tele-class. 

At the end of the call I made a Special Offer to everyone on the call. I’m leading a brand new rich-in-content 4-week tele-series, “Six Strategies to Turn Your Business Into a Fast-Track Growth Machine!” starting in October to reinforce what you learned in the tele-class, go into more depth, AND to provide you the tools and guidance to help you structure a growth-oriented partnership.

The Special Offer for the 4-week tele-series is a Savings of $50 if you sign up by midnight, Wednesday, September 30th. Use discount code BIZPC50 to capture the savings when you register. After September 30th, it’s goes back to the regular fee of $197.

With the response I’ve received so far, I expect to fill this program very quickly. I don’t want you to miss out, so I invite you to take advantage of this limited time Special Offer now.

Follow this link for details and to sign-up.

I hope you’ll be joining me for the tele-series starting on October 14th.

Dallas Business Journal reports, “American Airlines has forged a three-year marketing partnership with National Football League’s New England Patriots.”

Reuters states, “Jamie Kennedy partners with Yoostar ™ to create original viral content and launch the Yoostar Comedy Channel”

Wall Street Journal announces, “Google and SpotMixer expand partnership to include In-Stream video advertising.

These partnerships have a specific purpose and goals, as should all partnerships.

What’s great about these types of partnerships is they can be consummated under a variety of terms and options. To learn more about the partnership options review my webinar, “How to Grow Your Business Using Partnerships”.

By using the broad partnership model you can:

• Expand your market
• Create new or improved products
• Add capacity
• Gain new resources.

For the small business some of the real advantages of the partnership model are you don’t have to:

• Add staff
• Commit additional resources
• Spend time learning or providing what someone else can do faster, cheaper and better
• Reinvent what someone else has already built.

What’s common to all partnerships is the potential for mutual benefit. One party may gain more than the other, but that’s OK as long as it’s understood and agreed. And each must realize their expected benefit or the partnership will not be successful. Typically the specific gain for each partner will be different based on the role they play.

For a business partnership to be successful all terms must be clarified, documented and agreed to by the parties. Verbal agreements are a great place to start, but if they’re not documented in the beginning, you’re setting yourself up for future problems. Your partnership agreement can be changed, of course, but until it is, the partnership agreement is the document by which you are bound.

To get started using partnerships, determine what you want to accomplish in your business. What do you need in order to accomplish it? Who can provide what you need? Your specialty and expertise will likely fill the need of someone else’s business objectives. What can you provide in return? You’re looking for the right fit.

To find potential partners, think about who within your existing network might have what you need or to whom you might be able to offer your “value”. Seek opportunities to help others. Let your needs and interests be known. Use the internet and its capabilities to get the word out that you are seeking a “partner” for a specific purpose and goal.

To learn more about the principles and processes of getting your business into growth mode with a partnership designed to help you meet your goals, register for the September 16th FREE Successful Partnerships Teleclass, “How to Turn Your Business into a Fast-Track Growth Machine”, The emphasis will be on using partnerships for growth.

One of my virtual assistants, Aletha McManama, is on board with the idea of joint venturing also. She wrote a 2-part article about the potential benefits of joint venturing. I’m always interested in sharing information about anything that’s partnership related so I’m sharing it with you here.

Can a Joint Venture Benefit Your Business?, Part 1

Can a Joint Venture Benefit Your Business? Part 2

In his Letter to the NY Times Editor, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/arts/23alsmail-ASTAIREANDRO_LETTERS.html, Steven R. Pisani says, in response to an article about Astaire and Rogers, “Although Astaire had many dance partners, only Rogers was able to transform the partnership from pure entertainment to romance”. It was a partnership where each could bring their true talents and emotion to their work. Romance was their brand.

Your partnership can have just as strong a brand. The secret is finding the strengths of each partner and merging them together into a clear message that will reach the emotions of the buyer/prospect. Make no mistake, this applies to your partnership regardless of whether you’re a gas station and car repair or accounting and financial services.

It’s worth brainstorming with your partner or potential partner to find the emotional element that could make a difference in your partnership’s success and long term viability. Who knows? You might even become legendary.

Ivan’s list of provisions that must be spelled out in order to give “strategic alliance” a legal meaning include the following:

1 – The nature of the relationship. Is it a partnership or joint venture, but for limited purpose. He sets out the details in depth in his article, http://www.ivanhoffman.com/strategic.html.

2 – The term of the relationship.

3 – Participation rights. Who’s entitled to what and when.

Obviously if you’re considering a strategic alliance it definitely must be delineated in writing and agreed to by all parties. And get the advice of your legal counsel regarding your specific situation.

In August, I’m offering a Business Partnership Clinic for those who are ready to actually take strategic action in their partnership. It’s conducted as 3 one-hour weekly tele-sessions. First session is August 4th. Read the details and sign up at link above.

Finally, if you haven’t already seen it, view the 4 + minute video, Shedding Light on Business Partnerships.  I didn’t create this, but it’s right on about partnerships and very well done.

If you’ve seen anything of interest on partnerships, please add in your comment.

Unfortunately, Barbara had no network. I assumed she had one, but I didn’t think to ask before we shook hands. She looked to me to create the program, develop the marketing and get people to sign up. Plus I had the business background, so she figured I should handle the books also. After being in business only about nine months, Barbara’s husband became suddenly ill and she had to take care of him round the clock. We decided to dissolve the partnership. Obviously it was headed for eventual problems, so it’s fortunate we had another reason to disband.

What I learned from that partnership was that a lot more time should have been spent upfront comparing notes, creating job roles, establishing expectations and determining if we were both going the same direction.

Amazingly, after that I started getting clients who were in partnerships. Not all, of course, but my eyes were opened to how many businesses operate as partnerships.

As I began working with partnerships I started to see similar challenges play out over and over regardless of the type of business.

Here are some of the situations I see most often.

One partner feels like he’s carrying the bulk of the workload (or a partner is falling down on the job).

This may have happened because there wasn’t an agreement about who would do what. Job roles, access to needed resources, responsibilities and accountability have not been discussed. This is bound to lead to problems.

Expectations are not being met.

Expectations may be quite different for each partner. When expectations aren’t met, it’s a set up for negative feelings. It’s important that each partner knows what to expect from the other(s).

Partner has lost interest in the business or changed thinking.

Over time new attractions and options will continue to present themselves to all partners. When a partner becomes disenchanted with how the partnership is going, she is more likely to lose interest over time. This may be a compound problem.

Can’t talk to each other.

Communication is so critical to maintaining a viable partnership. When partners get so busy doing their own thing that they can’t find time to sit down with the other(s), they will likely start to feel less engaged. An unresolved issue can also lead to partners being unable to talk about certain things.

It’s a wrong partnership.

Sometimes the partnership has been a bad match from the beginning, but it was maintained for a variety of reasons. When the primary reason for the partnership was based on personal needs more than on business needs, if those needs aren’t fulfilled, the partnership will flounder. Maybe one partner thinks and acts fast and the other wants to research things in great detail. These people may never be able to function well together. Basic behaviors and traits will not likely change even if the person tries.

Are any of these your concern? If so, how should you open the subject of improving the relationship for the good of the company? To learn the steps I recommend for making positive changes to your partnership arrangement read my article, Help! I Want to Dump My Partner. It’s the most popular article on my website.

For more information on creating a partnership that works, you’ll also want to attend my July 14th f*r*e*e webinar, How to Grow Your Business Using Partnerships.