What are your experiences of long term partnerships?

I like the idea of a partnership. That way both people can focus on certain areas e.g one could do product creation and web development and the other could do marketing. Also it would be good to have someone to work with and bounce off ideas for new projects.

What are your experiences of long term working partnerships?

 

They can work but you need to get a good idea of why the others' motives are.

One previous client had been in a 10 year partnership, they were effectively marketing and had a strong say in commercial/ product and the other was the service provider who sold direct to market and under the partnership using the partners brand.

Firstly, the two companies didn't always agree on strategy, are you looking for volume or profit? Long term or short term? Or in this case was the partner using it as a loss leader for their main customers?

Secondly, after 10 years, the company providing the marketing effectively decided it had learned enough and bought out the partnership and is now a simple rival to their former partner but with a lot of insider knowledge (though some chinese walls were in place)

 

long term partnerships are not cool - there will be problems

 

that's pretty interesting...I'm a Business and Administration student and I'd like to find out more about how to develop long term relationships with parteners? Is it possible to trust them...?

 

why do you think so? do you have any unpleasant experiences?

 

IME my partnership did not end up working out. It was going very well in the beginning, we were both very motivated and accomplished a lot together. However, once things began to get going and the grueling amount of work that was once required of a start up lightened up a bit, my partner got a little too comfortable and began slacking or possibly became burnt out. It left a lot of responsibilities for me to pick up and it was certainly more than I could handle on my own. The partnership could have been successful if we had both maintained our motivation but ultimately it failed.

 

Of cause it is, the same service provider I mentioned had other similar partnerships with companies for over 20 years where the brand provided all the marketing and the brand and the service company controlled everything else (ie unlike the previous example the brand had no say in pricing or product) and both sides received healthy profits. The difference being that the brand had no interest in moving into the new industry but being able to cross sell the products to its customers for a commission worked well for them.

 

Long term partner ship is good if your business is well planned and no chance of miss understanding between each other.some people can manage great if the business is in partnership but make sure the deal is more legal contract so there will be no problems in near future.personally i never success in partnership deals so i dropped this idea and not even in future.

 

now that i think about it, i haven't really seen any true long term partnership as things always go sour. people always advise me to never do business with a family member or a friend...and i think there's a reason why people say that...

 

Partnerships can work out well but they do need some thought put into it at the beginning. Many partnerships start out exactly the way the OP suggested but unless roles are clearly defined, who is responsible for what, what hours have to be worked, who has the final say, what percentages each person has, what sort of contribution each partner is expected to provide, what happens if one wants to leave, and are then put on some sort of formal footing such as a Partnership Agreement, it can all end in disaster.

It's too easy to start it all informally with a couple of friends but the pressure of running a busiess can quickly tear long-term relationships apart....one thinks he contributes more to the business than the other, one thinks they make more money, one works 60 hours a week while the other works 30. Partnership Agreements need to drawn up by a solicitor to protect each party.

A Partnership is a legal entity (in the UK at least) and it does carry some onerous legal responsibilities. My advice was don't go into one just because you are friends and with the hope you will "work through" any difficulties. Get it formalized at the start.

 

Thank you all for the the great replies.

 

AstarothSolutions >>>>>>>>>>>Thanks,buddy for the replay! I really appreciate it!
of the Nightfall Hope I'll find a trustable one to establish long
term relationships!

 

Thanks,buddy for the replay! I really appreciate it!
Hope I'll find a trustable one enough to establish long term relationships!

 

It's not only down to people though, whether the relationship will succeed depends very much on the circumstances too. Depends on how well things will go, what will be required for success (for ex. some people will give up more easily than others and you can't blame them for that), what other opportunities outside of the partnership will arise for each side etc.

I would be very careful and diligent when defining what the responsibilities of each side will be and also what the terms to walk away would be.

 

Trust is the key to all partnership and relationship. If you can find one that is worthy.. your profit will increase tremendously in your project.