How to avoid bad business partnerships

AVOID BAD
© 2013 Brady Gilchrist www.bradygilchrist.com
HOW TO
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS

© 2013 Brady Gilchrist / Personal Use Only. Commercial Use Prohibited Without License
In an entrepreneurial culture
doing deals and partnerships
is our life blood.
After 24 years of working hard to make an
impact here are a few of my hard earned
lessons.

Learning how to pick the
right business partners is
the most important
business skill you will
ever acquire.

In life we rarely get to success
on our own. Those we run with
make all the difference in the
world.
!
Partners will either make or break us.

All business is ultimately
about people working
together.
!
Skills and experience are important but not
as important as how well you can execute
together.

If want others to work with you
articulate your mission, know
your difference and do your
math.
!
Your job is to be 100% certain in the
validity of your goal. If you are not
100% then nobody else will be.
!
Passion and energy hugely matter but ultimately in
business it’s your math that will impress. Intelligent
execution is where dreams connect with reality.

Partners don’t work for you
they work with you. Give
them respect and voice.
!
Remember partnerships are a melding
of collective potential for mutual gain.
!

If you heed the suggestions posed on
the next few slides you will get well
ahead of the game…

1. Ask the most trusted
members of your network to
help you ﬁnd potential partners.
!
Friends and close colleagues especially
old ones give the best intros. All
partners must be vouched for including
you.
!
As a rule don’t rely on people who have
taken you on wild goose chases.
LESSON 1

2. Get to know someone’s
passion.
!
Winning will take everything. Partners
who don’t share the same commitment
to direction should not be partners.
LESSON 2

3. Be literally on the same page.
!
Write down the mission, build the initial
plan of attack and agree in writing how
you will work together. Very important:
Know how the money bits work.
!
Handshakes matter but paper provides
context. All relationships eventually
need some context.
!
If you can’t agree on paper you won’t ever.
LESSON 3

4. Eyes wide open and don’t be
fooled by an empty suit.
!
Lot’s of people impress but not
everyone is genuine. See things as they
are, not as you hope. Track record
matters, especially yours!
!
What you are doing may be new but
past experiences should demonstrate
your capacity to win.
LESSON 4

5. Both must have skin in the
game. Partnerships are sealed
by having personal risk and
personal gain at stake.
!
Unless you both understand the cost of
failure and are committed to success
something will go wrong. Good
intentions are not enough. Money on the
table does matter.
LESSON 5

6. Know the time.
!
In business winning depends on speed.
A partner who does not share your
sense of urgency is a liability to the
mission.
!
This is why it can be problematic for
entrepreneurs working with
bureaucratic organizations. Time is
more than money - it’s success.
LESSON 6

7. Nurture mutual purpose.
!
Your partner may have more ﬁnancial
and market power than you. When there
is a power imbalance use that
opportunity for both your beneﬁt. A
partner who holds power over you
could be a problem. Do not ever sell
your soul for a deal.
LESSON 7

8. Change the world together.
!
This is a marriage complete with
commingled assets. Nurture success,
nurture the mission and be honest in
your commitments. Take responsibility
for creating positive energy - amplify
the good.
!
And above all…Do your work.
LESSON 8

The six golden principals to great
business partnerships.
GET TO KNOW SOMEONE’S PASSION.1
KNOW THE TIME.
BOTH MUST HAVE SKIN IN THE GAME.
4
BE LITERALLY ON THE SAME PAGE.2
3
NURTURE MUTUAL PURPOSE.5
CHANGE THE WORLD TOGETHER.6

The purpose of a
business is to create a
and keep a customer.!
!
This is the most important piece of
business advice in the world.
Peter Drucker

Every business relationship that’s gone
south for me did so because of one
major fail:
!
We lost the clarity that comes
with purpose.
!
Be very mindful of purpose.
!

Cover your bases.
Eyes wide open.
Go make it happen.
!
You have places to go and
MOUNTAINS to move!
WWW.BRADYGILCHRIST.COM
@BRADYGILCHRIST
©2013 Brady Gilchrist

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