Business Partnership Essentials by Dorene Lehavi

Author:Dorene Lehavi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2018-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

BPAT Saves the Business

Rachel complained that she was doing all the work in her photography business. She felt that her partner, Carl, was not fulfilling his end of the bargain, since he was so often missing from the scene. This complaint between partners is common, but rarely is one partner’s description of the situation the way it actually is. In this case, Rachel’s impression took hold, as misunderstandings often do, because she and Carl hadn’t been communicating and she didn’t really know what Carl was spending his time doing. Rachel and Carl both admitted that it had been a long time since they had met to talk about their business. They had no prior written agreement.

Rachel was in charge of sales and marketing, while Carl handled the finances and equipment. Late in the game, Rachel became aware that some of Carl’s financial decisions were not in accord with her best judgment. Because of their history together and commitment to the business, in their first coaching session with me, they agreed to look at the steps they had skipped and acknowledge the need for ongoing communication in regular meetings, which they now agreed to institute. I suggested that they start with putting together a partnership agreement using my BPAT then take that information to an attorney to draw up a legal partnership agreement. They were able to do this without further coaching. When I spoke with them to check on their progress, they were thrilled to see how both their relationship and the business had improved now that they were meeting regularly and had clarified their decisions about their goals and operations.

Rachel and Carl’s experience is a vivid example of why open, ongoing communication is vital, and that you must not assume you know everything about your partner, even if you’ve known the person for a long time. Rachel and Carl had been friends for five years and business partners for three, and still conflict arose. Like Rachel and Carl, partners must communicate on a regular basis. All partnerships should have a strategy meeting at least once a week with a quick morning check-in every day to ensure that everyone is on the same page. For Rachel and Carl, additional meetings were necessary for a period of time to address decisions that would become their operational and formal partnership agreements.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: The two C’s that kept Rachel and Carl’s partnership afloat are Commitment and Communication. How did transparency and responsibility fit into the picture? Can you see yourself in the original complaint scenario? What would have been your solution if you were Rachel? Carl?

Ten Reasons Why Partners Don’t Use a Written Agreement When They Should

–It never occurs to them that they should.

–They don’t know how to write it.

–They think it’s an insult to ask someone to put it in writing.

–They think it indicates a lack of trust.

–They think they need a lawyer to do it (they don’t) and don’t want to pay.

–They think their business arrangement is too small and time limited.

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