You might as well ask, what makes a good relationship?
Like any relationship it’s the effort you put in to the partnership not just at the beginning but throughout that gives it longevity. Alongside effort there should be enthusiasm for the partnership. Don’t expect to agree on everything – how many spouses do? - but you should have the same long term aims. It of course helps to have the same way of thinking, same value systems, and a similar culture. Different value systems and cultures generally don’t work.
Most partnerships fail for two reasons; firstly a breakdown in trust. Honesty is so important and there must be openness between each of you. Secondly, a lack of effort and enthusiasm, whereby one partner feels they alone are investing all the time and money.
So often business partners don’t do their homework before forming the relationship. It’s important that you both know before entering into the relationship what you can mutually gain from one another, and if the new partnership will harm any existing partnerships. Too often a partner finds out that their new partner is in fact a competitor and whilst there are positives to this, such as a greater combined share of the marketplace there are negatives too if the partnership resembles an acquisition.
Remember to keep on evaluating the partnership – part of this will be the gut feel you have, but there are tangibles too, for example the generation of revenue and business leads, and market visibility/presence.
Based in London, Keith works for LDC (www.ldc.co.uk), where as an investment executive he supports the boards and senior management teams of portfolio businesses driving value enhancement initiatives that generate shareholder value growth through cash generation, revenue growth and cost saving. Keith is also an associate speaker of TomorrowToday (www.tomorrowtoday.uk.com), an organisation focused on preparing leaders and their organisations for a new world of work, and in this capacity speaks on the impact on businesses of developments in Big Data, social media & hybrid analytics towards improved leadership and corporate decision-making and how this value can be exploited to deliver success. He has acted in an advisory capacity for a number of SME’s and start-ups, and currently serves on the Board of Advisors for Saffron Technologies (www.saffrontech.com), a US-based natural intelligence & hybrid analytics company positioned by both Gartner and Forrester as a market leader in the space.
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