Pros and Cons of having a partner in your business?

Usually we are lone guys, we work alone, spend 20/24 hours on our websites and so on. But any of you has a partner? how is it? better? If not, why?

Let's share some working experiences.

 

I have a partner in our SEO business. We share all expenses, and income from the business. On the other hand, we also do our own marketing and web site designs. We were both online marketers and we both enjoyed designing web sites. However, it was our interest in getting sites to the top of Google that brought us together, and that's the business we share evenly.

The biggest advantage of having a partner is we are able to learn a lot from each other. We are able to bounce ideas off each other. There is so much information available on the web that's it's impossible to read and/or retain it all. That's where a partner come in handy. There's a slim chance that we will wind up on the same site gathering the same information; so the information we are able to share is always different. That is, until we find something that is the best of the best. Then we agree to implement that strategy and/or product. So we are always able to share ideas that we find interesting. Also, my partner is very good at keyword research, and I'm better at optimizing pages for those keywords, and writing and editing articles. Keyword research takes time and he is more patient than I am. I have a great partner, and it works really well for for the both of us.

 

The only person I share my business with is my wife.

I know there can be benefits to having a partner (other than your souse or family members), but the truth is getting screwed by a partner is more probable than some people want to believe. Of course you can get screwed by a family member as well, but if you get screwed by a family member it's probably your fault (since we usually know our fam. members way better than someone outside of our family).

If you've started the business from scratch grown it the point it's producing some tangible results hiring a qualified employee would probably be a better way to go.

Why share your experience with a partner who may eventually take what you have learned over the years and start something on his/her own out of spite to you and your business? Happens more often than not.

 

I don't really share with anyone right now. Before I used to.

The advantage is that both of you can pay of the owes and sometype of fines for servers, etc easier and better.

A disadvantage is that you have to share the income with the partner site :/

 

If you feel the need to do everything alone or on your own you will pretty much set yourself up for failure. With that said, if you have a business partner make sure they bring something to the table that you do not and make sure they pull their own weight and then some. Personally I try to stay clear of business partners. I've worked on several projects with other people where I end up doing most of the work (all of the work) and they are the ones that feel they should be paid more....... It gets messy.

 

Doing it on your own...I`m not convinced that you set yourself up for failure. I think some people thrive on setting everything up, making decisions and running the show so to speak. Likewise, some individuals need the reassurance and guidance that a partner can bring.

Obviously an individual may not come into either of the above scenarios (for example - a partner is purely there so to finance a project).

 

I said if you think doing EVERYTHING on your own or alone will pretty much set yourself up for failure. Perhaps I was a bit vague.... but to elaborate... handling the programming, web design, graphic design, product design, content, marketing, legal, accounting, etc. alone will stack the odds against you for success. It's better to use your resources or at least recruit others to handle some of those other tasks so your time isn't wasted.

 

Totally agree...as a rule you can`t do everything yourself but I don`t classify designers and coders to be partners but as you say, resources/others to utilise. : )

 

I find that having a partner forces you to be smart about your business. If you are just yourself, you are more likely to overlook opportunities, and follow crazy whims. For my part, I need a partner to keep me grounded, and my partner needs me for creative input and whacky ideas.