WHEN A PARTNERSHIP SOURS

If you’re going to be an entrepreneur, chances are you’re going to form strategic collaborations with individuals who will become your business partners. No one wishes for anything else worse than a cohesive, mutually-beneficial business relationship, but no mature entrepreneur can avoid the possibility that even in the best of circumstances, regardless of what you do, or don’t, there will be disputes.

Better it is then to have a well-drafted partnership agreement in place, advises a senior in-house attorney and Lauric’s legal strategist- before the lack of one leads into uncharted waters, resulting in a free-for-all situation for all parties.

 

How then, if you’re in a tempest, the partnership’s heading toward certain disaster and you don’t have an agreement?

Evaluate, he advises. Evaluate what the differences really are and if they can be settled. Complex, sometimes obscure issues inevitably surface in all partnerships and will naturally create stress but if business partners evaluate the source of these conflicts and decide to work it out, a stronger partnership can be forged.

Don’t’ be afraid to ask yourselves the sensitive questions.
“What do I/we really want?”
“What is happening in this partnership that has resulted in this?”
“How are those matters affecting the business?”
“What is really happening?”

You might have an answer that points to family dynamics- an issue which has, he agrees, complications beyond the purpose of business itself. But if the issue is about having too much debt or that profit numbers aren’t high enough, or even realizing that your current business model doesn’t work, change the business plan. Adapt accordingly. There might not be a need to break the ship apart. Of course, if your partner is stealing from you or conducting illegal activities via your partnership, then terminate it, no questions asked.

So now both of you decide you’ll work it out. What then?

Check your own risk/reward tolerance level, the principal strategist suggests. “That’s what each partner should do. Assess the risks and rewards associated with your own business and do it frequently to make sure that they’re in check,” which means periodic assessments of your partnership, “especially the partnership agreement.” It also means frequent re-assessments and ongoing, honest communication between the partners. “It’s like any relationship. Over time both parties have to reassess their relationship, like how decisions are made, who makes the decisions, that sort of thing.”

But what about those who decide that they’ll break the ship after all?

What usually happens is either a partner buyout or a sellout to a third party. If a partner buyout is being discussed then it would be required to determine which of the partners has the most passion for the business. Alternately, a partner who is facing an immediate cash need will want to cash out of the business. Decisions will have to be made before a new agreement is drawn up.

“Find a good attorney,” the legal strategist emphasizes. Not your family friend or your uncle. You’ll need someone who is an expert in business law and a good one will help you to dissolute the partnership because by the time you reach this stage, the dominant question will be the actual valuation of the business and it is extremely crucial that both parties have their independent valuations or they agree (at least) on an independent business valuation expert to determine the value of the business.

Terminating a business partnership is never a champagne moment, the principal strategist admits, and more often than not, the collapse tends to haunt all parties throughout the rest of their business voyage, which is why he believes that however serious the issues are, however daunting the skirmishes are, if individuals protect themselves on the onset, they will be better prepared to resolve these issues through good communication and effective negotiation skills. 

MY BIGGEST MISTAKE WAS...

People are the best thing about business. But they can also be the worst, says emphatically the Principal Strategist of Lauric Strategy+ Marketing, who has come to work today in a bright blue polo tee-shirt and cream-colored slacks matched with Teva flip-flops.

He looks just like your average guy- in weekend wear, not the businessman and entrepreneur at the office the first day of the work week. Far from the typical image of a successful businessman he seems to be, yet, his personal ventures have grown to include companies located across continents and, in recent years, are seeing triple-digit growth.

To him, people are generally on two sides of the bell curve. They can either provide you with the greatest victories and profits but they can also cause you to suffer your biggest losses- and whilst he doesn’t go into detail what really transpired, he is candid about his entrepreneurial journey having had its fair share of mistakes- and some of the lowest moments of his business career were a result of him placing trust in the wrong person.

No industry, no one, is immune, he insists.

The media and entertainment company was making a directional transit towards content development and production which included substantial plans for motion-capture technology, then one of the newest technological developments in global media production. His research was thorough, he had met with representatives of the technology companies at a tech convention in Las Vegas and he even had the space mapped out for the equipment, now all he needed was a supplier.

There are many out there who will, with an arsenal of collaterals, material and impressive demonstrations portray the best of themselves to you. If you’re not listening carefully, if your company is at a phase eager for business development and you make a hasty decision, you just might find yourself paying for a very, very expensive lesson, and the cost of such a blunder is greater than the dollar factor. Even if you are convinced that such a cost is payment ‘for your business education with those mistakes’, it is, as he puts it, impractical advice for an entrepreneur.

Listen, he stresses, listen hard to those whom you intend to work with. Listen to candidates in the interview room. Listen to individuals whom you plan to form partnerships with. Listen to those whom you will invest in, and whom may be your prospective investors. Listen to everyone who will be a part of your business- and make it a strong attribute in your manner of business. Take the time to know those whom you are doing business with and be slower to act.

 

“Absorb as much information as you can.” He smiles. “Read, listen and learn as much as you can about what it is you will be doing. Information diminishes risk. You will be better equipped to make critical decisions.”



WHAT THE HAIR (DOES IT) MEAN ANYWAY

Yes, we know. We know that you’ve heard this all before. We know that right now you’re probably wondering why you’re reading yet another article about hair (and everything about it) for what must be like gazillion times. After all, hasn’t it all already been said, discussed, argued, emphasized, explained, debated, rebelled and conformed?!

For the simple reason that such a debate doesn’t seem to end.

It doesn’t matter where your business is. Let’s say that you’re in a developed economy- someone would have discussed it, set ground rules and perhaps let you decide whether or not you would conform or rebel. Now, let’s say that you’re in a developing economy- someone would probably have passionately advised you about it and in the same passion, encouraged you to conform to it. And even in economies where culture and business are co-influencers and where you’ll just have to, well, swim with the tide, there’ll just be someone who would have- at some point in life- considered an alternative.

An issue like this- and mind, we’re talking about hair here- tends to crop up at the most unexpected of times. Just the other day I was having a casual conversation with someone (who is, I must add, completely uninvolved with the business) and right out of nowhere gave me a piece of advice- to trim my hair short and neat the same way a lawyer would advise me if I were a Defendant in a court trial.

But really, why are there the rules concerning hair lengths and color and styles? We’ll be honest- there is no straightforward answer- and neither will we advocate one over the other.

What we’re saying is that it is all about performance, perception and differentiation.

It is about your optimal performance whether you have your hair short or long or colored or styled. It is whether your effectiveness and efficiency will be compromised when you wear your hair long, or short. If too short your hair length affects the way you handle your tasks , grow it out. If you’re anticipating busy days ahead and you don’t want to waste time on your hair, keep it short. If too long a hair length distracts you (and everyone else), trim it. If you perform your tasks better wearing your hair long or colored or slicked back or tied up or styled or wavy or straight or bald, well, keep it that way.

It is about perception- perception of yourself, your industry and how others perceive you. You don’t want to look rebellious if you don’t intend to. You don’t want to look sloppy and messy if you are not. You will be meeting clients, prospects, investors, potential investors in the day-to-day of business. You will be interviewing and hiring potential employees. You will be searching for suitable partners to your business. You will be involved in the many errands a startup or a franchise has to do. Which means that the way your banker, your investor, your co-worker, your client, your accountant, your lawyer, your industry partner perceives you is important. If you think your banker or your investor or your employee won’t think much of your professionalism when you wear your hair long or if it’s colored a shocking fuchsia purple, well, don’t.

Still, what makes a startup or a business expansion without the presence of differentiation and challenging norms? An unconventional haircut can mean the injection of fresh perspectives and growth opportunities to the industry. Wearing your hair neat, spiky or wavy can mean that you’ve finally reached a compromise between yourself and industry regulations. If you’ve been in the business for some time and want to franchise, a new, colored hairstyle can signal new directions. And if your industry is a mature one, a hairstyle that grants a youthful look might just be your most singular advantage anyway.