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6 Assets to Look for in a Business Partner

Sometimes in life, things can’t be done all by yourself. Business is no different. Sometimes, the best thing you can do in business is work with a good partner.

A partner can help spread your risk, bring new ideas, and take your business venture to the next level. At the same time, a partner can cause huge problems and massive headaches. That is why it is so important to choose your partner wisely.

With that being said, here are 6 assets to look for in a business partner:

1. Money (capital)

This one seems to be the most obvious. A lot of times, you may a have a good business idea or good investment opportunity, but you may not have the capital to see it through. Thus, a partner with money might be exactly what you need.

It is important to note that this should not be the only reason you jump into a partnership. While capital is important, it is also important that you get a long with the partner. It is also important they carry other assets. Even if money is the most important part of the partnership, it may blind you into taking on a partnership that isn’t in your best interests.

2. Experience

Often times, opportunities present themselves, but you may not have the expertise or knowledge to capitalize on the opportunity. This is when you can look to a partner that has the experience to help capitalize on this opportunity.

A few years back, my brother and I had an opportunity in the home building industry. At the time, we had some construction experience, but we didn’t think we had enough to become a full-time home builder. Thus, we found a partner with a lot more experience than we had in the industry. We were able to build a successful company together and have not looked back since.

3. Time

Sometimes, opportunities present themselves where you have the capital to capitalize on the opportunity, but you do not have the time. This is where you can find a partner that has the time to work on the opportunity. This could be a business opportunity, real estate opportunity, etc. If you’ve built excessive capital for yourself, it usually means you are busy person. So, it’s important to have others around you to help you capitalize on certain opportunities. As mentioned earlier, we can’t do everything ourselves. There is only so much time in the day. Thus, a partner that you trust and has the time can be a huge asset to you.

4. Specialized skills

Specialized skills can really set a business/investment apart from its competitors. You might have the best idea in the world, to implement that idea, it may require skills that you might not have. For example, in almost every business, there is some aspect of sales that is required. We actually wrote in the past that sales skills are the most important skills to possess in your business. Thus, if you don’t have sales skills, you may need to find a partner that does.

5. Network

Have you ever seen the show, Dragon’s Den on CBC? It is a show where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of successful Canadian business owners in hopes of striking an investment and a partnership. Well, more often than not, these entrepreneurs will accept lower offers from certain business owners because of their networks. For example, past dragon star, Jim Treliving, was a co-owner of Boston Pizza. If entrepreneurs pitched a food related idea, they would often lean towards a partnership with Jim because of the network he has built in the restaurant industry. Sometimes, a good network is what you need to launch your business/investment into the stratosphere.

6. Whatever it takes attitude

This is probably the most important skill you can look for in a partner. Business/investing can be hard at times. Things might not always go your way. We can’t tell you how many times something broke on one of our rental properties, or something unexpected came up in our business that needed to be attended to immediately. It is almost certain that no matter what you take on, things will not go perfect. Thus, both you and your partner need to have a whatever it takes attitude if you want to succeed. When the going gets tough, you need a partner that won’t quit on you and won’t blame you. Instead, that partner does their best to help you solve the problem and keep moving forward.

Partnerships can be difficult at times, but also way more rewarding than doing it on your own.

When Warren Buffett spoke about his partner Charlie Munger in a CNBC interview, he had this to say: “We’ve got an extremely good partnership and business is more fun — just as life is more fun — with a good personal partner and to have great business partner,”

You don’t have to be the lone ranger in business and investing. But you do need to make sure that if you enter into a partnership, you look for the assets on this list that you don’t possess yourself.

Best,

Vince & Mike

If you would like to learn more about investing for cashflow, grab a free copy of our book, “The Path to FU”.