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Casual Articles - The 10 Most Deadly Mistakes Business Partners Make - And How to Avoid Them
Nigerian Bank Applies To Raise Funds From Capital Market might be an overly optimistic plan. Having technical and expert advisers on hand can also help you understand financial and operational implications pertinent to both parties.First Bank applies to raise N99.3bn from capital marketFirst Bank of Nigeria Plc on Tuesday began the process of raising fresh funds from the market with an application to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The bank applied to offer 1.6billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to be sold at N33 per share for public subscription and 1.5billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N31 per share as Rights Issue to existing shareholders.As a result of the application, the NSE has placed the share price of First Bank on technical suspension at N40.40 per share. This implies that throughout the period of the offer, trading in the shares on the floor of the exchange would be done at N40.40.Besides, prospective subscribers to the public offer at N33 would be enjoying a discount of N7.40, while investors that would be exercising their rights at N31 per share would be doing so at a discount of N9.40 since the current market price is N40.40.The bank is expected to realise gross proceeds of N99.3bn from the hybrid offer, the highest in the history of the Nigerian capital market.The managing director of the bank, Mr. Jacobs Moyo Ajekigbe, had told shareholders at an extra-ordinary general meeting in Lagos in 8. Haste Makes (Costly) Waste It’s true, time is money. But ignoring details and attempting shortcuts will likely cause delays or worse, bad decisions when forming a partnership. Remember, if your partnership blows up, it will cost you far more time, money and heartache than if you do things right from the beginning. 9. Don’t Overlook Details As an entrepreneur, you already have a knack for seeing the big picture. It’s the details, however, that will add value to your vision in the long run. Covering the following bases will help buffer you against uncontrollable changes in the market, operating costs, and even sentiments between you and your partner. Before you get started: establish the objectives and expectations of each partner; determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time; assess how much revenue will be allocated relative to the amount and type of work done; assign the roles and related tasks of each partner; for example, decide who will manage the partnership, who will get training and hire employees, etc.; form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance; and determine a procedure to resolve problems when things break down; for example, mediation or arbitration. 10. Trust Your Gut My present partner excluded, I have been guilty of some bad decisions about business partners. I was involved in a partnership where I owned and managed an investment property in a ski resort with two other people. My partners wer A Guide For First Time Business Buyers One of the best ways an entrepreneur can find the investment money he or she needs to grow their business is by finding a strategic or joint venture partner. In a good partnership, each partner will bring expertise or assets that the other party is missing, but that are necessary for the business to be successful; for instance: CASH!Owning your own business can be very rewarding both financially and emotionally. Business ownership provides innumerable opportunities to put ideas into action and reap the rewards (and sometimes the pain).Buying a business, rather than starting a business from scratch, has many advantages:The business should have established customers who will provide revenues for the business almost immediately. Unlike a start-up business that needs to find customers and take them away from another business, the business buyer must retain it's existing customers. It's always easier and less expensive to retain customers than to try to find new customers.The business you buy will have systems in place that you do not need to invent. Although it's rare for any business to have perfect systems, the business you buy will certainly have a certain way of doing things. Business buyers should always make certain they understand why the former business owner did things BEFORE changing it. The laws of unintended consequences are inescapable. Make sure you know exactly what effect changes will have before you make changes.Financing the Purchase of the BusinessFinancing a busines If done correctly, a partnership can be great a way to grow your company without implementing difficult and time-consuming changes to your business. A partnership can help you increase your market share, gain a new competitive advantage, and help you to respond and adapt more quickly to change in the marketplace. But, business partnerships can be tough, and getting out of a bad one can be worse than an ugly divorce. In my practice, entrepreneurs often come to me when it’s too late. In a typical scenario, communications have broken down between the partners, they have been kicked out of their business, money has been stolen, and everyone is about to sue everyone else. Let me put this into tangible terms for you. What I have found is that when I help my clients outline their relationship with their partners in writing before they get started, it will cost them between $1,500 and $7,500 for a simple partnership. When clients do not do this up-front work and hire my firm to sue their partner (or defend a lawsuit) when things go bad, it can cost up to 10 TIMES that amount in litigation! What I have found is that when future business partners hash out the terms of their relationship before they get started, they have longer and more successful partnerships, and they save a considerable amount of money on legal fees. To help future business partners get the conversation started, I have created a Business Partners Questionnaire that helps future partners begin to outline their relationship in writing. To get your FREE copy, email me at sfurnari@furnarilevine.com. Here are a few other suggestions to help keep you and your partners out of court! 1. Go Back to the Basics Before you even start hunting for a potential partner or decide that a partnership is definitely the way to go, take a look at your business plan. Decide whether such a move is in line with you business goals. What are your organizational goals? Would a partnership help you achieve these goals? Is it consistent with the objectives of your company? A partnership is not a magic bandage that will solve your company’s problems. If you feel that your decision to partner is a defensive move, it maybe an indication of a core problem that should be fixed within your company, not externally. Similarly, don’t rush into partnership because you rely on one to start your business. 2. The Deadly E’s: Ego & Emotion The deadly E’s can trap you in a potentially awkward situation with your partner. Surrounded by a myriad of official documents and important decisions to be made, your ego can cause you to make claims and opinions that can come back to bite you later on. For example, by distinguishing yourself as the company’s official decision maker, you become responsible for your partner’s decisions too. Just as dangerous are your emotions, which can lead you to form unrealistic expectations or impromptu promises or commitments. 3. Don’t Ignore Possible Opportunities/Stay Flexible Cash-strapped entrepreneurs have a tendency to stop their search for a partner once they find the first person who demonstrates an ability to write a check. Remain uncommitted until you sign an agreement with your potential partner. Actively cultivating your alternatives can give you a better perspective on the partnership process and allow you to ask yourself, “is this partnership truly the best option?” Keeping your options open can help you compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, including that of a partnership. Not only does this prevent you from devoting excess time, money and effort on the sub-prime partner candidate, but you get the assurance that whatever decision you made was the best one. Also, consider possible opportunity costs. Along with the benefits of a partnership, you also assume liabilities, like your partner’s competitors. Will this fact conflict with potential opportunities in the future? 4. Form an Exit Strategy Before You Get Started Be realistic. Conflict is inevitable and you never know how severe it may get. Although it seems cynical, you should think of how you’ll exit from the partnership…before you get started. Consider it staying prepared for your next opportunity. While you and your partners are still on good terms, it’s crucial to determine how to allocate your business’ assets in case you and your partner decide not to work together anymore. You should also agree about what to do with the business or assets in case of an untimely termination, such as a partner’s death. Having an exit strategy will help you maintain your autonomy – your fate and that of your business remains in your hands, not your partner’s. 5. Map Out Your Mutual Expectations In Writing Before you get started, and possibly before you meet with your lawyer, prepare a plain English roadmap of the relationship between you and your partner. Some major advantages are: it allows you to draft the partnership agreement with your lawyer before presenting it to your partner’s lawyer; its flexible structure enables you to experiment with different relationship configurations to see which one you’re most satisfied with; you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want from the partnership; and most importantly, you can clearly distinguish business issues from legal issues, and use lawyers only to discuss the latter which will save you money on legal fees. This brings us to the next point. 6. Get Legal Advice Early Get legal advice from the beginning. Let your lawyer know what your goals are and he or she will let you know what you need to do to get there. A lawyer can also assess how realistic or beneficial your aspirations are. They can help you strategize your negotiations and plan what to ask for and when. Also note that the attorney representing the other side is the one you should look out for. You and your future partner should discuss the business side of your relationship first and, if possible, only introduce lawyers later. 7. Don’t Do Everything Yourself A good leader knows when to delegate responsibilities. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Assuming you’ve already taken the steps to carefully choose reliable consultants and employees, communicate with those working for you. Lawyers, accountants and managers can provide an objective, specialized perspective and a more realistic tone to what might be an overly optimistic plan. Having technical and expert advisers on hand can also help you understand financial and operational implications pertinent to both parties. 8. Haste Makes (Costly) Waste It’s true, time is money. But ignoring details and attempting shortcuts will likely cause delays or worse, bad decisions when forming a partnership. Remember, if your partnership blows up, it will cost you far more time, money and heartache than if you do things right from the beginning. 9. Don’t Overlook Details As an entrepreneur, you already have a knack for seeing the big picture. It’s the details, however, that will add value to your vision in the long run. Covering the following bases will help buffer you against uncontrollable changes in the market, operating costs, and even sentiments between you and your partner. Before you get started: establish the objectives and expectations of each partner; determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time; assess how much revenue will be allocated relative to the amount and type of work done; assign the roles and related tasks of each partner; for example, decide who will manage the partnership, who will get training and hire employees, etc.; form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance; and determine a procedure to resolve problems when things break down; for example, mediation or arbitration. 10. Trust Your Gut My present partner excluded, I have been guilty of some bad decisions about business partners. I was involved in a partnership where I owned and managed an investment property in a ski resort with two other people. My partners wer A Guide For First Time Business Buyers lp future business partners get the conversation started, I have created a Business Partners Questionnaire that helps future partners begin to outline their relationship in writing. To get your FREE copy, email me at sfurnari@furnarilevine.com.Owning your own business can be very rewarding both financially and emotionally. Business ownership provides innumerable opportunities to put ideas into action and reap the rewards (and sometimes the pain).Buying a business, rather than starting a business from scratch, has many advantages:The business should have established customers who will provide revenues for the business almost immediately. Unlike a start-up business that needs to find customers and take them away from another business, the business buyer must retain it's existing customers. It's always easier and less expensive to retain customers than to try to find new customers.The business you buy will have systems in place that you do not need to invent. Although it's rare for any business to have perfect systems, the business you buy will certainly have a certain way of doing things. Business buyers should always make certain they understand why the former business owner did things BEFORE changing it. The laws of unintended consequences are inescapable. Make sure you know exactly what effect changes will have before you make changes.Financing the Purchase of the BusinessFinancing a busines Here are a few other suggestions to help keep you and your partners out of court! 1. Go Back to the Basics Before you even start hunting for a potential partner or decide that a partnership is definitely the way to go, take a look at your business plan. Decide whether such a move is in line with you business goals. What are your organizational goals? Would a partnership help you achieve these goals? Is it consistent with the objectives of your company? A partnership is not a magic bandage that will solve your company’s problems. If you feel that your decision to partner is a defensive move, it maybe an indication of a core problem that should be fixed within your company, not externally. Similarly, don’t rush into partnership because you rely on one to start your business. 2. The Deadly E’s: Ego & Emotion The deadly E’s can trap you in a potentially awkward situation with your partner. Surrounded by a myriad of official documents and important decisions to be made, your ego can cause you to make claims and opinions that can come back to bite you later on. For example, by distinguishing yourself as the company’s official decision maker, you become responsible for your partner’s decisions too. Just as dangerous are your emotions, which can lead you to form unrealistic expectations or impromptu promises or commitments. 3. Don’t Ignore Possible Opportunities/Stay Flexible Cash-strapped entrepreneurs have a tendency to stop their search for a partner once they find the first person who demonstrates an ability to write a check. Remain uncommitted until you sign an agreement with your potential partner. Actively cultivating your alternatives can give you a better perspective on the partnership process and allow you to ask yourself, “is this partnership truly the best option?” Keeping your options open can help you compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, including that of a partnership. Not only does this prevent you from devoting excess time, money and effort on the sub-prime partner candidate, but you get the assurance that whatever decision you made was the best one. Also, consider possible opportunity costs. Along with the benefits of a partnership, you also assume liabilities, like your partner’s competitors. Will this fact conflict with potential opportunities in the future? 4. Form an Exit Strategy Before You Get Started Be realistic. Conflict is inevitable and you never know how severe it may get. Although it seems cynical, you should think of how you’ll exit from the partnership…before you get started. Consider it staying prepared for your next opportunity. While you and your partners are still on good terms, it’s crucial to determine how to allocate your business’ assets in case you and your partner decide not to work together anymore. You should also agree about what to do with the business or assets in case of an untimely termination, such as a partner’s death. Having an exit strategy will help you maintain your autonomy – your fate and that of your business remains in your hands, not your partner’s. 5. Map Out Your Mutual Expectations In Writing Before you get started, and possibly before you meet with your lawyer, prepare a plain English roadmap of the relationship between you and your partner. Some major advantages are: it allows you to draft the partnership agreement with your lawyer before presenting it to your partner’s lawyer; its flexible structure enables you to experiment with different relationship configurations to see which one you’re most satisfied with; you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want from the partnership; and most importantly, you can clearly distinguish business issues from legal issues, and use lawyers only to discuss the latter which will save you money on legal fees. This brings us to the next point. 6. Get Legal Advice Early Get legal advice from the beginning. Let your lawyer know what your goals are and he or she will let you know what you need to do to get there. A lawyer can also assess how realistic or beneficial your aspirations are. They can help you strategize your negotiations and plan what to ask for and when. Also note that the attorney representing the other side is the one you should look out for. You and your future partner should discuss the business side of your relationship first and, if possible, only introduce lawyers later. 7. Don’t Do Everything Yourself A good leader knows when to delegate responsibilities. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Assuming you’ve already taken the steps to carefully choose reliable consultants and employees, communicate with those working for you. Lawyers, accountants and managers can provide an objective, specialized perspective and a more realistic tone to what might be an overly optimistic plan. Having technical and expert advisers on hand can also help you understand financial and operational implications pertinent to both parties. 8. Haste Makes (Costly) Waste It’s true, time is money. But ignoring details and attempting shortcuts will likely cause delays or worse, bad decisions when forming a partnership. Remember, if your partnership blows up, it will cost you far more time, money and heartache than if you do things right from the beginning. 9. Don’t Overlook Details As an entrepreneur, you already have a knack for seeing the big picture. It’s the details, however, that will add value to your vision in the long run. Covering the following bases will help buffer you against uncontrollable changes in the market, operating costs, and even sentiments between you and your partner. Before you get started: establish the objectives and expectations of each partner; determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time; assess how much revenue will be allocated relative to the amount and type of work done; assign the roles and related tasks of each partner; for example, decide who will manage the partnership, who will get training and hire employees, etc.; form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance; and determine a procedure to resolve problems when things break down; for example, mediation or arbitration. 10. Trust Your Gut My present partner excluded, I have been guilty of some bad decisions about business partners. I was involved in a partnership where I owned and managed an investment property in a ski resort with two other people. My partners wer Be Noticed! s have a tendency to stop their search for a partner once they find the first person who demonstrates an ability to write a check. Remain uncommitted until you sign an agreement with your potential partner. Actively cultivating your alternatives can give you a better perspective on the partnership process and allow you to ask yourself, “is this partnership truly the best option?” Keeping your options open can help you compare the relative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative, including that of a partnership. Not only does this prevent you from devoting excess time, money and effort on the sub-prime partner candidate, but you get the assurance that whatever decision you made was the best one.With business cards, that is. They are one of the most powerful weapons in marketing your business or company is through the use of your business cards.Many people have not been using their cards effectively in making them achieve some results and sales to their site and business. With the many people using their business cards as a marketing tool nowadays, there is no guarantee that yours is the ones that they will notice.How do you make them stand out and be the important tool that they are?Use full color printing. Full color printing was expensive before but not anymore. With the many printing companies offering full color printing, you can already an inexpensive printer that give high quality prints. Prices now have dropped because of the abundance and stiff competitions.Have a tagline. This is a one-sentence benefit statement. Just pretend that you are writing an ad for a newspaper or a billboard. Sine you only have a limited space to write your tag on, think of something that can describe best what you want to say. This will likely catch the attention of the ones reading your cards.Put a picture on your cards. Studies have shown that people have the tendency to keep business cards Also, consider possible opportunity costs. Along with the benefits of a partnership, you also assume liabilities, like your partner’s competitors. Will this fact conflict with potential opportunities in the future? 4. Form an Exit Strategy Before You Get Started Be realistic. Conflict is inevitable and you never know how severe it may get. Although it seems cynical, you should think of how you’ll exit from the partnership…before you get started. Consider it staying prepared for your next opportunity. While you and your partners are still on good terms, it’s crucial to determine how to allocate your business’ assets in case you and your partner decide not to work together anymore. You should also agree about what to do with the business or assets in case of an untimely termination, such as a partner’s death. Having an exit strategy will help you maintain your autonomy – your fate and that of your business remains in your hands, not your partner’s. 5. Map Out Your Mutual Expectations In Writing Before you get started, and possibly before you meet with your lawyer, prepare a plain English roadmap of the relationship between you and your partner. Some major advantages are: it allows you to draft the partnership agreement with your lawyer before presenting it to your partner’s lawyer; its flexible structure enables you to experiment with different relationship configurations to see which one you’re most satisfied with; you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want from the partnership; and most importantly, you can clearly distinguish business issues from legal issues, and use lawyers only to discuss the latter which will save you money on legal fees. This brings us to the next point. 6. Get Legal Advice Early Get legal advice from the beginning. Let your lawyer know what your goals are and he or she will let you know what you need to do to get there. A lawyer can also assess how realistic or beneficial your aspirations are. They can help you strategize your negotiations and plan what to ask for and when. Also note that the attorney representing the other side is the one you should look out for. You and your future partner should discuss the business side of your relationship first and, if possible, only introduce lawyers later. 7. Don’t Do Everything Yourself A good leader knows when to delegate responsibilities. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Assuming you’ve already taken the steps to carefully choose reliable consultants and employees, communicate with those working for you. Lawyers, accountants and managers can provide an objective, specialized perspective and a more realistic tone to what might be an overly optimistic plan. Having technical and expert advisers on hand can also help you understand financial and operational implications pertinent to both parties. 8. Haste Makes (Costly) Waste It’s true, time is money. But ignoring details and attempting shortcuts will likely cause delays or worse, bad decisions when forming a partnership. Remember, if your partnership blows up, it will cost you far more time, money and heartache than if you do things right from the beginning. 9. Don’t Overlook Details As an entrepreneur, you already have a knack for seeing the big picture. It’s the details, however, that will add value to your vision in the long run. Covering the following bases will help buffer you against uncontrollable changes in the market, operating costs, and even sentiments between you and your partner. Before you get started: establish the objectives and expectations of each partner; determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time; assess how much revenue will be allocated relative to the amount and type of work done; assign the roles and related tasks of each partner; for example, decide who will manage the partnership, who will get training and hire employees, etc.; form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance; and determine a procedure to resolve problems when things break down; for example, mediation or arbitration. 10. Trust Your Gut My present partner excluded, I have been guilty of some bad decisions about business partners. I was involved in a partnership where I owned and managed an investment property in a ski resort with two other people. My partners wer Finding Your Ideal Home ut Your Mutual Expectations In WritingFinding your ideal home takes some work. Do you want a single-family home or a condo? How big a home and in which neighborhood?Let’s begin by talking about different types of homes. Single-family homes are typically detached houses on a single lot. The owner is responsible for all aspects of the property, including the interior, exterior and landscaping. A condominium, on the other hand, is a real estate project in which the individual owner holds title to a particular unit in a building. Most condos have a monthly Homeowner’s Association fee that may cover expenses such as exterior building insurance, landscaping, pool and recreation area maintenance, trash, water and a reserve for future capital improvements to the property. Town houses are legally classified as condominiums, usually share at least one common wall, but are generally situated in rows so there are no units above each other.You’ve probably heard the old real estate adage, “Location, location, location!” The location or neighborhood you choose will have the biggest impact on the price of the property. Whether you’re aiming for an exclusive blue-chip neighborhood or a lower-priced, emerging community, be sure to evaluate the area’s shopp Before you get started, and possibly before you meet with your lawyer, prepare a plain English roadmap of the relationship between you and your partner. Some major advantages are: it allows you to draft the partnership agreement with your lawyer before presenting it to your partner’s lawyer; its flexible structure enables you to experiment with different relationship configurations to see which one you’re most satisfied with; you’ll have a clearer idea of what you want from the partnership; and most importantly, you can clearly distinguish business issues from legal issues, and use lawyers only to discuss the latter which will save you money on legal fees. This brings us to the next point. 6. Get Legal Advice Early Get legal advice from the beginning. Let your lawyer know what your goals are and he or she will let you know what you need to do to get there. A lawyer can also assess how realistic or beneficial your aspirations are. They can help you strategize your negotiations and plan what to ask for and when. Also note that the attorney representing the other side is the one you should look out for. You and your future partner should discuss the business side of your relationship first and, if possible, only introduce lawyers later. 7. Don’t Do Everything Yourself A good leader knows when to delegate responsibilities. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Assuming you’ve already taken the steps to carefully choose reliable consultants and employees, communicate with those working for you. Lawyers, accountants and managers can provide an objective, specialized perspective and a more realistic tone to what might be an overly optimistic plan. Having technical and expert advisers on hand can also help you understand financial and operational implications pertinent to both parties. 8. Haste Makes (Costly) Waste It’s true, time is money. But ignoring details and attempting shortcuts will likely cause delays or worse, bad decisions when forming a partnership. Remember, if your partnership blows up, it will cost you far more time, money and heartache than if you do things right from the beginning. 9. Don’t Overlook Details As an entrepreneur, you already have a knack for seeing the big picture. It’s the details, however, that will add value to your vision in the long run. Covering the following bases will help buffer you against uncontrollable changes in the market, operating costs, and even sentiments between you and your partner. Before you get started: establish the objectives and expectations of each partner; determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time; assess how much revenue will be allocated relative to the amount and type of work done; assign the roles and related tasks of each partner; for example, decide who will manage the partnership, who will get training and hire employees, etc.; form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance; and determine a procedure to resolve problems when things break down; for example, mediation or arbitration. 10. Trust Your Gut My present partner excluded, I have been guilty of some bad decisions about business partners. I was involved in a partnership where I owned and managed an investment property in a ski resort with two other people. My partners wer Barcodes for Inventory might be an overly optimistic plan. Having technical and expert advisers on hand can also help you understand financial and operational implications pertinent to both parties.Barcodes for inventory purposes are used to identify and list inventories in businesses dealing with a large number of goods. Barcodes are efficient tools for maintaining large inventory records; they save time and manpower because the procedure is systemized and standardized. Above all, barcodes are very specific to the product.The information encoded in barcodes cannot be read using human eyes, and making the copies of them requires specialized pieces of equipment, which are costly. Therefore, barcodes are free from duplications.Barcodes for inventory are made up of paper, vinyl, plastic, or metal; they are self-adhesive and can be easily affixed to the product. These barcode labels are designed by computers using specific barcode software programs and are printed using either laser printers or special standalone printers made expressly for printing barcodes. The techniques used for creating barcodes for inventory purposes are reflective printing and photocomposition.Barcodes for inventory use are either line bars or two-dimensional encoding bars. In line bars, information is coded as a sequence of vertical lines. In two-dimensional encoding, the information is coded as a pattern of dots of varyin 8. Haste Makes (Costly) Waste It’s true, time is money. But ignoring details and attempting shortcuts will likely cause delays or worse, bad decisions when forming a partnership. Remember, if your partnership blows up, it will cost you far more time, money and heartache than if you do things right from the beginning. 9. Don’t Overlook Details As an entrepreneur, you already have a knack for seeing the big picture. It’s the details, however, that will add value to your vision in the long run. Covering the following bases will help buffer you against uncontrollable changes in the market, operating costs, and even sentiments between you and your partner. Before you get started: establish the objectives and expectations of each partner; determine each partner’s contribution in terms of funds, skill and time; assess how much revenue will be allocated relative to the amount and type of work done; assign the roles and related tasks of each partner; for example, decide who will manage the partnership, who will get training and hire employees, etc.; form evaluation objectives and plan ways to monitor and assess performance; and determine a procedure to resolve problems when things break down; for example, mediation or arbitration. 10. Trust Your Gut My present partner excluded, I have been guilty of some bad decisions about business partners. I was involved in a partnership where I owned and managed an investment property in a ski resort with two other people. My partners were social acquaintances whose company I enjoyed very much in that type of setting. However, throw money, emotions, power, and economic risk in the mix, and things quickly got tense. The first indication that the business partnership might not be a good one was in the very beginning. We were sitting in a quaint Vermont restaurant and one of the partners threw a temper tantrum about making an offer on a property we were considering. What was a very logical and arithmetic decision for me, was a very emotional one for this person. After the outburst, I had a bad feeling about the interpersonal dynamics of the partnership. I decided to go ahead anyway because the economic prospects were outstanding. Sure enough, in less than a year we were not on speaking terms. Luckily, before we got started, I insisted on an iron-clad partnership agreement that had a mechanism in it for me to get out. I ended up making money on the investment, but not enough to pay for a year’s worth of arguments, stress and distraction from my law practice. I didn’t trust my gut and it cost me in the long-run. A business partnership is truly a marriage. As all marriages go, when things are good, they’re great, and when they’re not, look out! If you get a bad feeling about your future partner, trust you instincts, they are usually correct. Copyright 2006 Stephen Furnari
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