选择商业伙伴的8项建议

倘若商业伙伴选择不当，可能会让你的企业遭遇“滑铁卢”。

本文最初发表于Entrepreneur.com网站。

在我的多次创业经历中，曾遇到过好的合作伙伴，也有过糟糕的经历。其中一次的经历让我印象格外深刻。起初，一切进展顺利，因为我的合作伙伴拥有丰富的行业知识和广泛的人际关系。一开始，我们几乎可以讨论一切问题，那时我觉得在我们的努力下，发展前途必定一片光明。当时感觉确实很棒，至少在一段时间内是这样的。但是后来，我们之间出现了性格方面的冲突，此后，我们的讨论变得既无趣又没有成效。自此以后，我们之间的合作迅速走向了下坡路。

那么，问题到底出在哪里？其实，最大的问题在于我对他还不够了解。我没有花时间对他进行尽职调查，而是将重点放在如何利用他的行业知识以及我对产品的了解来开展经营活动，从而让公司迅速成长并开始盈利。而在此之前，我们并未进行过任何合作，因而我对他的领导风格和价值观毫不知晓。但是，自我们开始合作共事以后，我发现在对待员工、客户及金钱方面，他的行事风格与我完全不同。而现在，在与我的客户合作过程中，我对这一点有了更深的体会。理论上看来一切都很不错，然而在实践中，随着外部环境的变化，个性差异也会凸显出来，麻烦也会随之而来。

伙伴关系如婚姻关系一样，起初都很美好，充满了爱、玫瑰和梦想，但是伙伴关系可能很快就变成了心碎、愤怒，甚至引起法律诉讼，导致公司破产。

建立合作关系前，请仔细考虑你是否真的需要商业伙伴。若经过认真考虑，你发现你确实需要一位合作伙伴，那么请确认你选择的伙伴在价值观、事业目标、领导风格及工作技能方面都与你非常匹配。因为伙伴关系一旦建立，若要拆散它，将会比当初建立时难得多。

为避免糟糕的伙伴关系，请参考以下八条建议。

1.信任。

将信任列于首位是有道理的。判断你是否信任一个人，底线是你是否愿意向他/她透露你的个人银行账户信息。若答案是否定的，那么对于是否能与其建立伙伴关系，就需要三思而后行了。作为合作伙伴，你为他花费的每一分钱都将影响到你的个人账本。

2.友谊。

若合作伙伴是你的好朋友，请先确认他/她的目标、价值观及责任感是否与你的相一致。不要因为你们是好朋友，就做出想当然的判断。你也需要了解其个人生活及其生活稳定的状态，因为个人问题有时很难处理，并且极易影响一个人的工作。若你对此产生任何怀疑，那么请勿与之建立伙伴关系。

3.试运行

选择一位曾经一起共事的人进行合作，例如曾经一起从事过某项非营利活动或共同开展过一些项目。你需要了解他/她是否具有良好的团队合作精神，以及面临困境时会作何反应。若你和他/她没有任何共同工作的经历，那么在最终确立合作关系之前，试着共事一段时间，以便更加全面地了解对方。

4.合作伙伴、员工及顾问

千万不要因为雇不起某个人，就转而与他/她们建立伙伴关系。最好先聘请他/她们做公司的顾问，而非一开始便让其加入你的公司，而后发现他/她并不是一位好的合作伙伴。

5.优势互补

确保你和你的合作伙伴有各自擅长的领域，从而实现优势互补。若你的两个合作伙伴都擅长销售，但均不善于运营层面的执行工作，那么这将增加你的工作难度。最好选择与你优势互补的人。而要实现盈利，则需要保持一定的平衡。

6.平衡责任

双方需要事先就在公司承担的责任达成一致，并遵照执行。若某个人试图控制并包揽一切，而最后做出的成果却很少，那么这一伙伴关系便开始面临解体，并滋生不满情绪。

7.金钱

如婚姻一样，金钱在商业伙伴关系中也扮演着重要角色。因此，关于如何运用筹集到的资金以及如何分配利益，在一开始就应当达成一致。

8.评估/合同

一旦有合作伙伴为避免分歧而决定离开公司，那么你就应该为公司价值确定一个准则了。买卖协议对于所有可能性的讨论极为有用，且有助于将问题扼杀于萌芽状态。

为什么说以上几点如此重要？原因在于，糟糕的伙伴关系可能会摧毁一家伟大的公司，并且让公司始终无法充分发挥出自身潜力。创业及/或建立合作是一次情感体验。但在进行尽职调查时，请将你的情感放到一边，确保所有的一切都得到合理、妥善的安排，从而保证未来团队的稳定。 （财富中文网）

译者：司慧杰/汪皓

Because the wrong business partner can sink your business.

This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.

As a serial entrepreneur, I’ve had my share of good and bad business partners. One experience in particular started out pretty good because this person had lots of industry knowledge and connections. We literally could walk into just about any account and the prospect would buy our services. It was great, at least for a while. Then personality conflicts started and it was no longer fun or productive and it quickly went downhill from there.

So what went wrong? The biggest problem was not knowing him very well. Rather than taking the time to do the due diligence on him, the focus was on the chance to grow a company quickly and profitably based on his knowledge of the industry and my knowledge of the product. We had never worked together before so leadership style or values were an unknown. However, once we started working together, it quickly became clear that his way of doing business was totally different in terms of employees, customers and money. I see this a lot when working with clients now. It looks great on paper but issues arise when put into practice and personalities react to various situations.

Just like a marriage that starts off all hearts, roses and dreams, a partnership can quickly turn into heartbreak, anger, lawsuits and bankruptcy.

Before you even think of pulling the trigger with a business partner, contemplate whether you even need one at all. If you decide it is a good idea, make sure you get the best match to your own values, goals, leadership style and skills. Because once you become partners, it is vastly more difficult to undo the partnership than it is to create it.

Following are eight points to consider to avoid a bad partnership.

1. Trust.

This is first on the list for a reason. Bottom line, do you trust this individual with your personal bank account. If the answer is “no,” think twice. As partners, every dollar you spend proportionately affects your personal check book.

2. Friendship.

If the person is a good friend, make sure that their goals, values and responsibilities are aligned to yours. Don’t assume just because you get along as friends that they are. Take a look at their personal life and how stable it is. Personal problems are difficult and can easily complicate their professional life. If there is any doubt, don’t do it.

3. Trial run.

Select a person you have experience with at work, at a nonprofit or on a project. You should know if they are a team player and how they react in difficult situations. If you have no experience with a potential partner at all, do a trial run for a specified period of time before finalizing the partnership.

4. Partner, employee or consultant.

Don’t partner with someone just because you can’t afford to hire them. It is better to hire them as a consultant than to give away a part of your company or to find out later that he/she is not a good partner for you.

5. Varied strengths.

Make sure you and your partner’s strengths are in different areas. If you have two people who are good at sales and no one who is good at executing on an operational level, it will be more challenging than you think. It is much better to bring someone in who will compliment your strengths. In order to grow profitably, keep some balance.

6. Balanced responsibilities.

Both parties need to agree up front what their responsibilities are in the company and stick to them. If one person keeps trying to take over and do everything or ends up doing very little, then the partnership will start to unravel and feelings of resentment will fester.

7. Money.

Just like in marriage, money is always one of the major problems in a business partnership. Therefore, agree in the beginning how you will use the funding you raise and how the profits will be distributed.

8. Valuation/contracts.

Decide on a formula to determine the value of the company should one partner decide to leave to avoid disagreements. Buy/Sell agreements are incredibly useful for discussing all possibilities and how they will be handled before they become a reality.

Why is all of this so important? Because a great business can be severely damaged by a bad partnership and never reach its full potential. Starting a business and/or a partnership is an emotional experience. When doing your due diligence, set your emotions aside and make sure everything lines up and has the potential at staying aligned.