Going into business with another entrepreneur is always a big decision; it isn’t something that you should decide upon lightly. If you are sure that bringing someone else on board to help you run or manage your business is the right way to go, then you need to make sure to carefully vet any potential candidates before you extend them a final offer.
Why You Should Vet Potential Business Partners
Everyone deserves the chance to reform their lives. Just because someone has a checkered past, that doesn’t mean that they can’t be trusted as a business partner. However, you need to be aware of their past upfront, or it could come back to haunt you.
Embarrassing revelations about your business partner can negatively impact your brand and your business as a whole, with potentially disastrous consequences for your reputation. It is therefore essential that you always know exactly who you are getting into business with long before you make them a firm offer of partnership.
Checking Their Employment History
One of the most reliable indicators that you have for what to expect from a potential business partner is their employment history. Contacting past employers to find out what their experience of working with a potential business partner was like can be very revealing. If they aren’t forthcoming about their employment history, then you might want to consider why. Checking someone’s employment history isn’t difficult and is important for verifying their experience and credentials.
Searching Legal Records
Getting into business with someone who has a poor reputation within your industry is one thing, but it isn’t as bad as going into business with someone who turns out to be a criminal. If you aren’t directly employing someone yourself, then you might not feel it necessary to conduct the same kind of background check on them that you would if you were going to make them an employee. However, it is just as important that you check out people who you plan on going into business with as partners or collaborators.
Fortunately, it is easy to search Legal Records using Public Records Reviews. Not only can you use their online tool to search for legal records pertaining to potential business associates, but you can also use it to look up a range of other public records and learn everything you could possibly want to know about someone.
Legal records are generated for a variety of different purposes. At every step of someone’s progress through the legal system, there will be records created detailing the processes that they are involved in and how they resolve. In most cases, legal records can be viewed by anyone who requests them as they are public records. However, the precise rules governing what records have to be disclosed and when are set by individual states, meaning that they can vary across the US.
Making Sure Your Goals Align
Before you consider going into business with another person, you need to be sure that you both have similar professional goals. If you are both harboring drastically different visions for the future of your business, conflict with your partner is inevitable. Needless to say, you want to minimize this kind of conflict as it can be disastrous for your business.
In order to find a business partner whose goals align with your own, you will need to first clearly define what your own personal goals and ambitions are. If you don’t have a clear picture of what it is that you want from your business in the long-term, then it is going to be very difficult for you to identify a potential partner who is on the same page. Before you begin your search for a new business partner, be sure that you know what you want from them.
You Don’t Need a Clone
Of course, you want to get on with anyone that you go into business with. If you are constantly arguing and fighting, then neither of you are going to particularly enjoy your time working together. However, while you should look for someone that you can get along with, you don’t want to partner with someone who is exactly like you. There is a lot of value in having someone on board who thinks differently to you and can present you with a different perspective on things.
If you are able to identify any weaknesses or shortcomings in your skillset, then you can begin looking for a business partner that can fill in the skills gaps for you. Once again, having someone who can only do what you do anyway isn’t adding any value to your business.
Every business owner should carefully vet their business partners. Never jump into business with the first person that comes your way – not unless you are sure that they are the best person for the job.
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