The Necessary Selflessness Of A True Partnership

When you create a services offering that is comprised of two or more different main components, one of the first things you need to accept is the inevitability that, in any given case, one of those components may not be necessary.
Ideally, you set up the offering so that both components comprise a necessary one- two punch and at the end of the day both partners benefit equally.
One of the most common causes of discord between partners in a two or more component services offering is this inequity. And the main problem with it is really part of the nature of the beast.
No matter how diligently you research your prospects’ businesses. there will always be a fundamental knowledge and insight gap between looking at any situation from the outside and hearing about it first hand from the inside
In my experience, and in Charlene’s as well, it is a rare occurrence when your assumptions about someone’s business actually synch up perfectly with the reality of that business.

Rolling With The Punches

The potential for inequities is always going to be a challenge and in many cases a test of character for both or all partners.
At the end of the day, it comes down to just how much you actually believe your partnership relationship is worth.
In the case of Charlene Norman and myself, we are very fortunate in that both of us understand the nature of the beast we are dealing with, because we have been there many times before.
Sometimes the issue is going to be one of business systems organization, which is primarily a Charlene thing. In other cases, it will be a communications issue, which is primarily my thing.
And the concept of trust is at that core of everything. You need to trust that your partner, no matter how peripherally you happen to be involved in a project, is working to make it as all inclusive as possible given the reality of the situation.|
Sure, you could just sit back and wait for the ideal client to come along, but then you would be on the very short end of the 80/20 Differential, which clearly states that even with a Herculean effort, way less than 20% of the situations you encounter will be anything close to ‘ideal’.

Any Partnership Is A Leap Of Faith

Before you enter into a partnership with anyone, be it a formal business arrangement or simply an association, such as Charlene and I have in Bullet Proof, you need to keep three important things in your head.
1. That you trust your partner implicitly with your time and your reputation.
2. That you understand that though things may feel a little lopsided from time to time, in the long game sense, it all balances out.
3. That all your effort is on the partnership, making it work, making it grow.
One of the main, non-financial reasons for the high failure rate in the SME sector is basically a loss of faith between partners, mainly because of perceived inequities and imbalances.
A lot of this stems from the general lack of patience that most people in today’s world possess. Running your own business is never going to be easy. Running it with a partner might ease the burden a bit, but at the same time, it can create its own set of complications.
But if you are true professionals, and focused on the main business objectives that brought you together in the first place, it won’t be easy, but it can most certainly be doable, workable and any other ‘able” you can think of.

Jim Murray is a communication strategist, writer, art director blogger and beBee brand ambassador for Canada. Charlene Norman is a business systems and operational analyst. Their collaboration is called Bullet Proof Consulting, located in St Catharines, Ontario and designed to serve forward thinking businesses in the Niagara and Golden Horseshoe regions of Southern Ontario. Web site coming soon.
You can find out more about us at:  http://tinyurl.com/y9zc9gvx

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