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Most business partnerships end in divorce. Here are the top 5 ways to beat the odds.

Done correctly, going into business with a partner can be a great way to grow quickly as each partner brings expertise or assets that the other party is missing but which are crucial for business success. Yet, according to some studies, 80% of business partnerships fail. When you consider that the failure of a business partnership can often lead to loss of valued relationships, financial struggles, lawsuits and even complete business failure, those are eye-wateringly bad odds.

So, how do you beat the odds?

 

Get on the same page

If you’re starting a business together, don’t jump straight into setting up the bank account and buying inventory. Spend a lot of time (I’m speaking about days if not weeks) mapping out what your business will look like. What are the business goals? Timelines? What is your vision for the business and what it will take to achieve this? What is the sacrifice plan? When will you increase your team and how? What is the exit plan?

Skipping this step can be disastrous. If you plan to build a large business with 10 locations across Canada and sell it to your largest competitor in 7 years for $10 million and your partner is content to stay small as long as she can make $72,000 a year from it, your business partnership is not going to work out and it’s best to know this before you invest your energy and money.

 

The Devil (and the Lawsuit) is in the details

The big picture is crucial but it will remain an unfulfilled mission statement on a wall somewhere if you don’t nail down the details.  Having a clear, detailed plan can often be the only thing that allows you to ride out changes in the market and in the emotional state of the partners. Before you get started:

  • Establish the objectives and expectations of each partner;
  • Determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time;
  • Complete an organizational chart, even if right now it will only contain two names- yours and your partner’s, and assign the jobs each partner will have. This is often the most difficult part as someone has to be the Managing Partner.
  • Form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance;
  • Decide on a procedure to resolve problems when there is a serious issue e.g mediation or arbitration.

 

Map out Your Mutual Expectations in Writing

Now that you know where you want to go in your business and how you plan to get there, step back and think about the roadmap for the relationship between you and your partner. Before you visit a lawyer (more on that later), you and your partner(s) should take the time to draft your version of a partnership agreement. This will save on legal fees as it will allow you to experiment with different structures and solutions on your own, get a clearer idea of what you need to address and distinguish business issues from legal issues. The more work you have done before stepping into your lawyer’s office, the more useful and less expensive your agreement will be.

 

Get Professional Advice Early On

I know you wouldn’t start a partnership without legal advice! A business lawyer who has helped form partnerships before can help you assess your draft agreement and determine how realistic and beneficial your wish list is. She can also help develop your negotiation strategy including determining what you should ask for and when.

You should also have a consultation with an accountant who will be able to give you advice on how to make a budget, manage revenue and minimize tax liability.

 

Trust Your Instincts

A wise person once said- “Always trust your gut. It knows what your head hasn’t yet figured out.”  Sometimes, a partnership looks great on paper but something just doesn’t add up.

A former client had the opportunity to join a business started by a husband and wife team which had strong financials and an expanding client base but in her meetings with the husband, she just always felt uneasy. Still, she thought she was being unduly sensitive and decided to go ahead with the partnership on the expectation that she could do really well financially. It turned out to be a disaster. The husband was a manipulative creep who consistently undermined my former client and then tried to force her out of the business without compensation. During that period, every time I spoke with her she expressed how upset she was, not so much with the partner, but with herself for ignoring her gut.

So, by now you’re probably thinking that you need to have a long chat with your partner but you’re wondering how to raise the subject without causing a rift. I’ll discuss that next month.

 

 

Andrea Henry

Vox Law LLP

The Law Firm Built With Love for Small Business™

T: 416.639.6235

E: andrea@voxlaw.ca

W: http://www.voxlaw.ca

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This article is made available by Andrea Henry of Vox Law LLP for educational purposes only and not to provide specific legal advice. By reading this article you acknowledge that there is no solicitor-client relationship between you and Andrea Henry and/or Vox Law LLP. The article should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed lawyer.

Doing What Matters – because……..

Sheralyn

It’s time for a little reality check.  This is a business blog but it’s really about the business of life.  Haven’t we all occasionally spent just a little too much time trolling the internet, facebook and LinkedIn for advice on how to live our lives, succeed in business and be happy, healthy and well- adjusted? We are locked in an inevitable search for meaning in life, for how to “add value” and how the understanding of these will provide meaning to our existence and therefore also, presumably, business success.  What we may not have done however is really figured out how to do what matters, when it matters and for whom it matters because we haven’t figured out our “because.”  The “because” is UP TO YOU and the “because” is the only thing that matters.  Whether you do what you do because you want to be successful, make money, be a great provider for your family or be recognized in your industry as a leader is, in the end, all that counts.

Doing what matters means embracing your destiny, career, business or even (if this is your choice) your decision to be a stay at home parent. Embrace this decision with full force, with no doubts, no questions, no reservations and no limitations. Let it settle in and become a part of every fibre of your being because if you don’t – it won’t. You will question your decisions, your abilities, your commitment and your competence and then your business will suffer. Quite possibly you will suffer.

It doesn’t matter what you are doing right now as long as you enjoy the doing and that you are confidant. This isn’t just a blanket suggestion to “be happy” as if life really was that simple.  No, it’s not a Law of Attraction kind of thing either.  It’s just common sense. It doesn’t need to be labeled anything other than what it is. I don’t know about you but I am tired of all the current buzzwords around being “authentic.” Buzzwords set us up for failure as we fall short of these often false and pretentious expectations.  We judge both ourselves and others by the standards of these new (and constantly changing) “realities.” The reality of our daily existence is simply that each of us has to do what we do for reasons that matter only to us. For the most part these coalesce nicely with an overall “raison d’être” that makes the world go round. In other words, by each of us doing what matters to us, enough people do enough good things to help others and to offset the people who do bad things (because unfortunately, there are people who by doing what matters to them, do bad things.)

So stop worrying about the labeling and naval gazing.  Stop reading every site you can find that will help you determine your “brand.” I don’t care what your brand is. Are you a brand? Are you a box of cereal? Seriously? We are human beings not brands and who you are as a person, as an individual, this is what matters – not who you are as a “brand.”  A simple search on Google will tell you that a “brand” is “a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name” or, even better, that a brand is “an identifying mark burned on livestock or…former criminals or slaves…”* Is this what you aspire to be?

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that we are PEOPLE not an inanimate object manufactured for the express purpose of a corporation. While we may occasionally feel like a “slave” to the corporate machine, we are not.  We are reimbursed for our efforts and if you go back to my earlier point – hopefully you are doing something you love and that has meaning and purpose to you, thus negating the feeling of enslavement. This is ever more true if you have chosen the path of an entrepreneur. Be who you want to be and do what you want to do and your sincerity, drive and passion will naturally flow because it is founded in confidence and in being true to yourself. So do what matters. Do it because it’s what matters to you.

As Owner and Principal partner of “Writing Right For You” Sheralyn is a Communications Strategist – working together with entrepreneurs to maximize profit through effective use of the written word. Looking for web content that works, blog articles that engage or communications strategies that help you get noticed?  Contact Sheralyn today. Sheralyn is also the mother of two children now entering the “terrible and terrific teens” and spends her free time volunteering for several non-profit organizations.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

Know your Numbers!

Uchechi

Most people that know me well know that I love looking at numbers. I love creating budgets and expense tracking sheets to manage both my personal and business expenses. I love to look at how my business makes money and look at different opportunities to bring in additional sources of revenues into my business. However, I find most business owners do not do this.

How does your business make money? Yes, you may have a product or service that you sell, but there are so many different areas to consider in terms of how you make money. Who are your strongest consumers, and which outlets do you make the most money in? How profitable is your business? You’ve got to understand the financial health of your business.

It’s unfortunate, but finances tend to be where most small business owners tend to fall short. Entrepreneurs are highly creative, and there’s so much we have on the go, and sometimes the numbers part is what we tend to look at last. However, I’m a firm believer that you really need to look at your numbers and understand your numbers on a consistent basis. Understanding your finances allows you to make the right business decisions, know how healthy your business is, and will help you build a business with longevity.

Take time to sit down and add all the numbers. Do not be afraid of the numbers. When you’re afraid of the number, and ignore them, that’s when you get yourself into trouble. Set an annual (yearly) target and break it down into monthly and weekly targets. Depending on how big your business is, you may want to start with monthly, but I really love breaking it down into weekly.

When you do your budget, don’t forget to take account your own basic needs. Some business owners tend to budget solely on their business expenses. That’s great if you have a full-time job and you’re bridging your business. However, if you want your business to sustain you and you want to run it full-time, you really need to take your personal expenses into account.

You also need to also understand your break-even point. Your break-even point is the point where revenue actually starts to cover your expenses. The more money you make on top of that will go into your profitability.

Start tracking the return on all those activities you’re doing. So, if it’s Facebook marketing, your email newsletter– how are those converting? You need to know how much money you’re getting in return for all the money you’re spending to bring in sales.

Taxes are another great thing to consider. A lot of small business owners miss this completely, and I’ve been guilty of this too in the past. What tends to happen is we forget to set money aside for taxes. But once you do your taxes, especially when you start making more profit, you’ll have to pay taxes, and depending on how much profit you made, you may get a big tax bill. If you have not been setting any money aside for it, it will leave you scrambling to get money to pay for the taxes. Furthermore, it will cause you so much stress and energy. It will also take the focus from running your business to worrying about finances. Always set some money aside, especially if you’re making profit to pay for your taxes.

There’s so much I can write about this, and feel it’s so important to the success of your business that I dedicated a whole module in my 4-Week Business Success Bootcamp online program to ‘Know your Numbers’.

I like to say, ‘your numbers tells you a story’.  That story will show you how healthy your business is and areas you need to improve to make it more successful!

 

Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse is a Business & Lifestyle Strategist, Speaker and Writer, but most importantly, a proud Mother and Wife. Uchechi is Founder of My Empowered Living (http://www.myempoweredliving.com) a website aimed at helping women shift their mindset and live their passion! Whether it’s starting and building their dream business, or helping them create a lifestyle they crave, Uchechi is the modern woman’s secret to success! Visit Uchechi at www.myempoweredliving.com to get her FREE online video training series The 4 Keys to your Business Success! This free 4-day business training reveals her 4 key strategies needed to build a profitable and successful business, and how to put them to work in your business!

Do your beliefs about your business really matter?

Uchechi

“If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won’t, you most assuredly won’t. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.”

~Denis Waitley

I’ve heard it said that business ownership is one of the best personal development tools you can ever take on. Think about it, what platforms pushes you to step outside of your comfort zone, face rejection and criticism on a daily basis and strive to become better every day? It places you in a vulnerable place and requires you to push past your comfort zone, and have confidence and the utmost belief in yourself and your business.

This is why cultivating the right mindset is critical to your business success. What are your core beliefs about your business success? Do you believe in your products and services? Do you have faith in your unique gifts and know that you are making a difference in the lives of your clients and customers? It is important to remember that your beliefs about yourself, brand and business are critical to your success. They act as a magnet that draws circumstances consistent to it into your life. Plainly stated your beliefs will manifest into physical form, and you will experience evidence to prove them correct; thus creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Many business owners doubt themselves and their ability to provide excellent service. They do this through not charging enough, by not asking for the sale or feeling that others have more knowledge and expertise than they do. They tend to play small and oftentimes treat their business as a hobby. They also fear both success and failure due to the unknown and what it may mean.

I once read that two ingredients needed for success is belief + time. The higher the belief the less time needed to succeed. However, the lower your belief the more time it will take to achieve it. Your beliefs are so powerful and once you grasp its power, it will help propel you forward to start living the life you want. It may be difficult at first, but the more you practice this the easier it becomes and the more you will see your outer circumstances reflecting your new empowered beliefs.

If you’re business is not flourishing as it should and you feel that you are not making ends meet, it is important to look at the root cause and your subconscious beliefs about your business. On the surface, it may appear that all business owners want the best, but many times there is an underlining limiting belief that is holding them back from the success that they crave and deserve. It is really crucial to dig deep and uncover what they are and begin to replace them with empowering ones. You do not have to work to remove the negative ones, because that is a difficult task. The best approach is to start feeding your mind with new empowering thoughts, and in time it will expand and there will be less room for the negative limiting beliefs that oftentimes holds most business owners back.

If you are lacking belief in your business, you need to re-program your mind, and change your mind-set about what is possible for your business. Your mind acts like a powerful computer and it is up to you to program empowering beliefs that will lead to your success. The great news is that it is up to you and under your control. You just need to harness this power, which will translate to you enjoying a successful profitable business that you deserve!

 

Uchechi Ezurike-Bosse is a Business & Lifestyle Strategist, Speaker and Writer, but most importantly, a proud Mother and Wife. Uchechi is Co-Founder of Elite Wellness Services Inc. (www.elitewellness.ca) and Founder of My Empowered Living (www.myempoweredliving.com) a website aimed at helping women change negative and disempowering mindset and live their passion! Whether it’s starting and building their dream business, or helping them create a lifestyle they crave, Uchechi is the modern woman’s secret to success! Visit Uchechi at www.myempoweredliving.com to get your FREE copy of 5 Simple Steps to Create a Life you’re Crazy About! A 15-page workbook!

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