It’s been a few years now since I’ve been in a position to choose a business partner. I’ve been running my own businesses for a while now. But tonight I had the opportunity to talk to a friend of mine who’s having some problems with his business partner and it reminded of a lot of things that I’d like to share with you about business partners.

You Better Like Them

The first thing is that a business partner is someone that you’re going to spend a lot of time with so you’d better like that person.

In a lot of cases people spend more time with their business partners then they do with their spouses. So you really, really, really need to like this person.

Love and Marriage Business

You’re going to talk to them a lot, and you need to get along well with them because if you don’t they’re going to make your life miserable. Its the same thing as having a bad romantic relationship, they can make your life miserable. Having a business partner is like being married to somebody, but without the fun perks. And don’t forget, just like being married, you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get out of it.

So make sure you like the person.

Spouses Argue About Finances

Next, this is somebody that’s going to have a real ability to impact your life financially.

This is somebody who can either A) make you a lot of money or B) loose you a lot of money and C) cause you a lot of stress about your money. I know of some relationships where one person or the other person takes care of the money in the relationship or sometimes it’s more even. It’s kind of the same thing here, except it’s a lot easier to get into a business relationship. In my experience it’s been a lot easier to get into business relationships then to get into marriages, which may just say something about me, not sure. Either way your business partner really has that huge ability to impact your life from a financial standpoint.

Don’t Jump In, Think About It

These are just a couple of the ways that business partners can help you or hurt you.

It’s really, really important to choose that business partner wisely. If you’re interested in hearing more about how to choose the right business partner, post something in the comments and I will talk more about that.

I hope this is helpful. I hope this helps guide you a little bit in your journey!