Business Partnerships

When I thought of the concept, which is now known as Why Go Solo, three people came to mind right away. Each person possessed distinct skills which could be leveraged to make Why Go Solo happen and successful. Like I mentioned, in the post Tick Tock, I emailed each of them right away to tell them about the concept. Less then a week after I sent the email, we all met up to further discuss the idea. This was mid to end of February.

Everyone loved it and everyone wanted to be involved. We arranged to have brunch with our significant others (well, except for me, I’m single) in order to bounce the idea around some more and to get to know each other in a different environment and around loved ones. Brunch was a hit and it was obvious we had a killer team.

This is when I came up with a laundry list of deliverables we needed to address and get started on. The due dates for the first deliverables came and went…and I didn’t get much of a response. We decided to meet again to address where we were and that turned out more into a brainstorming session for the name (yes, you guessed it, that will be a later post). We did address at that time how busy two of the potential partners were with their own undertakings and businesses, which made it very difficult for them to be involved.

I was very bummed out when I left the meeting on March 16, 2007. We had come up with a name, which was awesome, but I knew I had lost two of my partners. Thankfully, both individuals were very honest about their situations and availability. Both individuals, who are also entrepreneurs, were fully conscious of the hard work, dedication and time required to start a new venture and the fact they couldn’t completely commit. It was over a month later since the initial conception of the idea; I was feeling anxious to move faster and I felt like I was facing a set back.

It wasn’t really a set back though. I had learned in my previous business that you definitely don’t want partners who are not as committed and as involved as you are because that only causes resentment and problems. We all knew that and the decision they made was a hard one, but one, that has saved our friendships and opened the door for each of them to become involve in the future. Both of them have been very supportive in their own ways.

This is when things were left to me and Martin. The partnership between me and Martin has grown into an exemplarily partnership.

Martin has different skills, strengths, weaknesses, view points and even future desires then me. However, we both have the same values, work ethics and vision to make a positive impact on the world. We compliment each other very well and we both end up taking a variety of roles in situations.

We haven’t always agreed and we haven’t always seen eye to eye. The really exciting thing about this to me is that, normally in my life, when I haven’t gotten my way in a partnership/relationship, it’s always been easier to just get out of it. My pattern has been to take the path of least resistance and stick to being on my own. However, given that I desperately want Why Go Solo, abandoning the partnership wasn’t an option. I need Martin to make this happen. I want this more then anything else in the world; it means more to me then my pride, my stubbornness and my old ways. This also meant I needed to trust Martin completely.

It took some time, but through many conversations, experiencing the ups and downs together and meeting many different people in each other’s circles of friends and business associates we grew closer and improved our communication. I am blessed that Martin is very patient, understanding, compassionate and as dedicated to making Why Go Solo happen as I am.

When I see Martin and Ruth now, it warms my heart and they are truly like family to me. Ruth even gives me food to take home and lets me borrow clothes!!

I feel very fortunate to have found such wonderful partners. I told Martin, now that I am handling being in a partnership, that may be, just may be, I’m finally ready for a relationship…but that’s another story.

Bottom line when you consider taking on business partners, make sure they bring to the partnership the skills and strengths you don’t yourself possess, make sure they are just as fully committed with their time, energy and financials; also, make sure they have the same values and work ethics. Lastly, make sure you can trust them and know that they are now part of your family.