3 Things to Consider When Partnering in Business
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[00:00:00] If you're starting a business and you're thinking about taking on a partner or looking for a partner, these are three things that I think that you should consider when taking on a partner in business. My name is Huang. I'm an occupational therapist and certified hand therapist, and I have two businesses.
I have a clinic and I have Hand Therapy Secrets, my online platform. So I've always done things solo, like in my business life, but I think these are three things to consider when partnering in business. And the reason why I wanted to share this with you, because one, I've lived it. My parents were businesses and partners.
And I think I've also worked really closely with other therapists who have taken in partners. I think there are some really great things, and then I think there are some things that you should consider. And I'm going to share those three things with you. So, three things that I think that are really important, are, like, [00:01:00] if you think about a business A partner in a business is like a marriage.
So we're going to talk about that. And then what are the second thing is like divide and conquer, right? So I'm going to talk about that. And then other thing is like in a marriage, there's a prenup, right? Or you could have a prenup that can help protect everyone. Is there one like that in business?
Because I think something you can should consider if you are going into business together. So let's, let's kind of dive into it a little bit. Business is like a marriage, right? It really is like a marriage if you're partnering with someone. It is so important, like, I've been married for, I've been with my husband for almost 30 years.
I think this year will be, at the time of recording, will be 22 years. So I kind of know something about marriage. So, but in a marriage, before my husband and I got married, we talked about everything. And it's funny because, When my younger brother was getting married, I [00:02:00] was like, did y'all people talk about X, Y, and Z, like all these things you have to talk about, you know, what your marriage looks like, what you want it to look like, what you consider to be important, you have to talk about money.
And so I think of it like a marriage actually, as, as any relationship, right? Like even when I hire. You know, in my business, I like to have. good conversations to know where someone is coming from. I want them to know where I'm coming from so that we have a really great relationship where everyone's in it to win it.
Right. And if you look at the business, like if you look at your partner in your business, you want to be in it to win it. And you want that same person to be in it to win it. Right. And, I think that you have to talk about [00:03:00] your core values. What are your three major core values in your You know that you embody in your life that you want in your business believe it or not It's the same thing because you can't be different people But like just like in any relationship just like in any marriage money is a really big conversation that needs to be had And what I've seen in the past is that, um, people get a partner out of convenience.
People get a partner out of fear of working alone, being alone. Does this sound like familiar, so I, yes, when you are taking on a partner, considering a partner, it really is like a marriage. You're going to be spending a lot of time with this person, and you want to know that you're, you guys are on the right track.
If you are partnering with your spouse, [00:04:00] I think that that's. You know, added pressure. I personally have seen this in my own parents having their own business and partnering up and you have to really have a strong marriage in order to sustain the difficulties of also then owning a business. And I've, I've met people who, have had, who have businesses who are.
Have been married like 20 something years and their marriage is great. Their business is great and so I think those people who do it, right do it from a place of making like their core values are the same they share similar interests and Goes to number two, which is divide and conquer They know what they're good at and they know what their partner is good at and then between the two of them can divide up And work on to those things, right?
So when you're when you're looking for a partner into your business, like what are what are you really good at? What are you really good at? What do [00:05:00] you enjoy doing and then what are they good at? And what are what do they enjoy doing? And that way you guys can divide and conquer so that you can move the business ahead faster When getting a partner if you both are the same Then Ah, then you You're going to be chomping at the bits, right?
You're going to be chomping at the bits to do the same thing. And, you might, at the whole point of getting a partner in a business is to allow you to move faster. So, getting a business and partner, not only is it one, the influx of money can be can be important, but two, when you divide and conquer, you can move along faster.
So for example, if someone's really good in operations, like providing the therapy, then they can be the one providing the therapy. And then someone who's really good in marketing sales or, you know, and then that person can [00:06:00] also be the one who does a lot of the writing, who does a lot of filming of the content and things like that.
But you have to, you know, you have to divide and conquer like. That one person can't be providing the therapy, doing the marketing, and then the, then the top person, you know, the other person is like, I'm, you know, the one making hard decisions, you know, right? And when you, and I'm talking about it from a You know, therapy business where we're therapists who decided to go out on our own.
I'm not talking about like, let me get a partner, a venture capitalist and, you know, give me 500, 000 and they're just part silent partners. Right. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about like, I'm a therapist and this is what I commonly see. I'm an occupational therapist. I'm afraid to go out on my own.
So I'm going to potentially partner up with a physical therapist or a speech therapist to open up my business. Right. It's got to make sense for you. And it's got to make sense for [00:07:00] if you think about it, it's got to make sense for the other person. So if you can think about the other person and they're someone who thinks about you, then I think that you're more likely to be in a one on one situation than if you're sitting there and you're thinking about me, me, me, me, me, and they're thinking about them, them, them, them, them.
And then the, why are you together? Why are you partnering up? Right partnering up is not the same as shared spaces. That's not the same If you decide to rent a place and you sublet someone they're not your partners They just they're your roommate right now. They just share in space and they can up and leave whenever i'm talking about partner is like We shared The lease agreement, we're pulling our money together in the same bank account.
We are under the same S corp and we have a plan to grow this clinic to X, Y, Z. Right. That's a partner. You're going to do this. I'm going to do this. We're both going to work to get business into the door [00:08:00] and we're going to decide how we utilize, the revenue that we are, generating to then make decisions on who we're going to be hiring next, what we're going to be doing with the profit like that.
I mean, at the end of the day, that's a partnership, right? The decisions and all that stuff is, is really important. How you guys, how you think together, this, this is what I would, you know, if I could, if I had the personality or I could take on a partner, this is what I would want. This is cause I've seen it.
I was like, wow, you know, some of these people who have partners, they seem to be going so fast. They tend to be you know, making more money, they tend to be making more moves, but you know, it's not for everybody and you have to decide what's right for you. I'm already married. I already have a partner.
So in my personal life, so in my business life, I just wasn't sure how that was going to look. Because [00:09:00] it's hard to, to keep and maintain a good marriage. Right? So I don't know, business. So number three takes me to number three is, something to consider when you're partnering in business. If there is such a thing as a prenup.
Before marriage, right? To make sure the whole point of a prenup, right? The whole point of a prenup is to protect each other while you still love each other. That's the whole point of a prenup. And actually, before my husband and I had anything to our names, we had talked about what a prenup would look like.
We're too cheap to get a prenup back in the day, but you know, every once in a while I'm like, hey, babe What about that postnup? But really the whole the whole premise of a prenup is to protect each other while you still love each other, right? when you are not angry at each other when you can think more fairly and Go to any divorce lawyer, they'll tell you prenup is, you know, really important to have so that [00:10:00] because when you're getting married, you love each other, you want the best for each other, you know, however many years down the line, the whole reason why you're getting divorced is because those values no longer align the things that you want no longer align.
And so you're getting a divorce and when you're getting a divorce, you might not be so, you know, depending on why you're getting a divorce. You might not, you might not be loving on them so much, right? And so I would encourage, like, if there is such a thing as a prenup in a business, even if you were to just draw it out, what would it look like if we decided we didn't want to be together anymore?
What would that look like? What would it look like? How would we divide it up? What would be your responsibilities? What would be my responsibilities? Right. and I think that that is fair. And I, I put it. It's very similar to having [00:11:00] a non solicitation, non compete contract. And if you're the, you know, if drawn up correctly, you're doing it to, one, protect yourself, but two, to be fair to them.
So, When I have non solicitation, non compete contracts, you know, for my businesses, it is to protect the business entity, not just myself, it's to protect the business entity, but when I draw it up and when I discuss it with somebody that I'm working with, it is meant to be fair. It is meant to be fair to them from the get go, from the moment that I want them.
So I think I'm just drawing some, some similarities just in case, you know, it helps you to think things through when you are starting your business or a couple years into it, and you're like, Should I get a partner? Would it be easier for me? Because I've had those moments. I [00:12:00] mean, honestly, I have had those moments when things are really hard.
And I think, man, wouldn't I'd be better off if I had a partner and they could help me move things along. They could, but they can also can hinder you. So I think that when it comes to making decisions on it, you really do have to consider it like a marriage. And did you go over everything? Did you talk about everything?
Are you bringing in someone who can divide and conquer with you? Divide and conquer. So the things that you're good at you stay in your zone of genius and the thing that they're good at They're gonna stay in their zone of genius and between your two Skills you are going to elevate the business Better faster, you know so that you both can benefit not just one person or the other and then You know talking about worst case scenario We can't [00:13:00] always think of always the upside.
There's always a downside. So everything that can go great, it could also go bad. So we're going to sit here and dream about all the things that can go great. We also have to think about all the things that can go bad. And if they go bad, we should have. somewhat of game plan, we should be somewhat aligned on in terms of what that looks like and then have something, you know, written down so that, you know, while we, when things are going great, they can go great and we can enjoy it.
And actually we could have one eye looking to make sure we don't trip and fall. Right. And I think that's just That's just reasonable. That's protecting you and the other person. So, those are some things to consider. I myself have decided to mainly work solo. And I would rather hire than have a partner, like have a true partner.
I'd rather hire. I'd rather build a team and put in, build [00:14:00] in, ways in which to incentivize the people who work with me, right? To make it a win for them and a win for the company as well, versus taking on a partner. But, who knows? You know, who knows in the future, I might know. I'm kidding. But yeah, those are some of the things to consider.
But yeah, I've seen, I've seen, you know, I've seen people partner up at the beginning. And I think most of the time I've seen the partnering up together at the beginning, mostly because someone was fearful of being alone. Right. It's just like a marriage. Don't be getting married just because, you don't want to be alone.
Get married because you, you Love and like that person, you know, and can see a future with that person versus like, oh shit. I don't want to be alone oh shit my, my, you know, I need to have it to, to look good Because society tells me I need to be married, you know, things like that. So, you know, [00:15:00] it really is something to consider.
So anyway, I hope this conversation helps you. I would love to hear your stories and you can leave them down in the comment below. There's some links there. If you want to join my OT business corner and get more tips for me, more stories, on what you can do to start your business and grow your business.
I hope to look, to see you on the inside until next time. Peace out. Thanks for listening
