@ChrisKnudsen tweeted this must read article from Entrepreneur magazine that has great advice like this. “Never assume all of the risk in exchange for half of the reward.” Or, another way of saying this: don’t do all the work for nothing…because if you work with types identified in this article you’re likely to have nothing to split.

Favorite quotes:
“Brilliant academics are not necessarily brilliant businessmen.”
“In lieu of a partnership, first consider licensing deals or strategic partnerships.” (I’m not sure what the difference is between strategic partnerships and partnerships.)

My advice… The quicker they are to offer ownership in exchange for payment, the more doubts I have. If you’re really going to make money you don’t want to bring on more partners to share the profits with. I’ve never seen this work.

The types mentioned in the article ring so true that it’s funny!

We also discussed business to business sales and how when working with potential clients avoid those who don’t return calls or emails. They aren’t ready or aren’t interested. That sounds obvious but it’s my first weeding out.

Example (for some reason I hear more examples of PR firms this year so I’m using them in this example but it applies to all kinds of partnerships):

PR firm: Let’s work together! Send us everything (many requests follow).

Me: Send something, get no response. Or get response months later at the last minute.
Message: We’re too busy to talk to you.
Me: Stop all work.

I’m often jealous of people who have good business partnerships because it’s something I haven’t been able to pull off. I always attract the same sort of person. Maybe it’s a reflection of my own weaknesses! But starting next week I’m going to work for my husband part time and it’s our first anniversary. The marriage partnership is going great - hopefully this new one will too!

Any advice to share from your partnerships?

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