Business partner checklist

When approached with careful consideration, a business partnership has the power to elevate your business and enhance your entrepreneurial experience.

As you get to know a potential business partner, it’s important to ask powerful questions and have the right conversations so you choose someone who’s truly the right fit for you and your entrepreneurial vision.

A business partnership has the power to make or break a business, so take things slow, gather as much information as you can, and remember to trust your gut.

This checklist will help you evaluate a potential business partner and guide your early and important conversations with each other.

1. Do you share the same vision for the business?

Are you building a global company that you want to sell in a few years or are you starting a lifestyle business that you’d like to run from your homes? Your vision for the business should be aligned so that all of your individual and combined efforts lead to the same destination.

2. Do you bring complimentary skillsets?

When you’re evaluating a potential business partner you want to ensure both of you bring sufficient value to the company in terms of skills, talents, connections, financing, experience, resources, etc. You want to work with someone who fills in your gaps and weaknesses and has the expertise and experience required to help you see the business vision through.

3. Are your personalities compatible?

Could you really see yourself working with this person day in and day out for years to come? Are there any red flags or points of tension that are concerning to you? Someone’s disposition can have a significant effect on the working relationship and undeniably impact the functioning of the business. You also want to make sure you trust this person implicitly. Consider if there’s anything they’ve said or done that’s made you feel uneasy. Investigate accordingly.

4. Can you talk about the hard stuff?

Are you able to have uncomfortable conversations with your potential business partner? Can you talk about your deepest fears and have an honest conversation about potential worst-case scenarios (i.e., the partnership dissolving, the business failing, someone being seriously injured, etc)? If you feel yourself holding back when it comes to hard conversations, you may want to consider whether you indeed trust this person and feel comfortable being vulnerable with them.

5. Do you have similar perspectives on work-life balance?

What are both of your working habits and styles? What are your values around work-life balance? You don’t necessarily have to have the same work schedules, and in fact, it may be beneficial to have inconsistent hours to better serve customers, but your working styles should be compatible so it feels like you’re both contributing equally to the business.

6. Have you tested the partnership before making it official?

Can you stress test the partnership and learn more about each other’s strengths and weaknesses before going all in? For example, if you’d like to open a yoga studio with someone begin by hosting weekend community classes and retreats to see how that experience goes first. It’s also important to decide how long you will test the partnership before you make a decision about whether it’s the right fit for you both.

7. Have you learned as much as you can about them?

If you’re in the early days of getting to know a potential partner, you want to make sure you have a deep understanding of who they are, how they approach business, and what they’ll bring to the company. Can you speak with their past colleagues, co-founders, or employees to get an even better sense of who they are? Do they have client testimonials of a portfolio you can review? Don’t leave anything un-investigated when you’re considering going into business with someone.

Now that you’ve spent time evaluating your potential partner and testing the relationship, you’re likely preparing to take your next steps together (assuming you both feel it’s a good fit). Our next blog post, Questions and conversations you need to have with your new business partner, will help you establish a strong foundation from which to start and grow your partnership.