Ali Hasan
So you want to start your business but you’re all alone and you want a business partner? Since you’re all by yourself thinking how you are going to do that, we are here to tell you how to find a business partner. Maybe if you had a partner who could help you with some of the aspects of running a business, then you could have succeeded by now.
Well we will discuss about how to find a business partner so that you both can help each other in starting a business and create the next trillion dollar company together. So let’s begin. Here are few steps that you need to follow in order to find a suitable partner for yourself:-
1. Become a Good Business Partner yourself – If you want to find a suitable business partner for yourself, then first become a good partner yourself. A business partner is the same as a life partner. In order to attract a good life partner, you need to become an attractive partner yourself. You need to become someone whom people want to date and talk to.
It’s the same case with having a business partner. In order to attract a business partner who has strong business acumen or is equipped with great marketing skills, you need to become an equally capable entrepreneur who has his/her own unique skills and competence. When you’re capable and skilled, people will take notice of your talents and they will be impressed.
But always remember that talent alone won’t benefit you as there are millions of entrepreneurs who have impressive amounts of talent but they aren’t even half as successful as those entrepreneurs who might be lacking talent but have exceptional work ethic. Hence, become as skilled and capable as possible but don’t simply rely on your talents in order to find a business partner. There’s no substitute for hard work.
2. Tell everyone about it – If you’re looking for a business partner, then don’t just keep it to yourself, tell the whole world about it. To prove my point, I will tell you a short story when I was a copywriter and I was looking for clients. I got my first client without spending even a penny on marketing or ads.
I did this by informing all of my friends that I have started working as a copywriter and I am looking for work. One of my friends called me and said that his friend wanted a writer in order to write a script for a documentary movie. This is a simple story of how I grabbed my first client without spending a penny. It was pure word of mouth.
You can also do this if you tell all of your friends that you have started a business and you’re in need of a business partner. When you go out and tell everyone, there’s a higher possibility that you will find one.
3. Go Out – If you have become an attractive business partner and you have told most of your friend circle that you’re looking for a business partner, it’s now time to go out yourself and actively meet potential people so that you can increase your chances of meeting a business partner.
You have to attend business conferences, events, seminars or any networking opportunity where you might have a chance to meet various people working in your industry. When you go out, you increase your chances of meeting new people and when you do this, you increase your chances of meeting your future business partner as well.
You must know the basics of how to greet people, how to hold a decent conversation about anything, how to communicate well, how to have a pleasing body language and how to read people. Once I was at an event and I started a conversation which led to 2 people meeting each other that were quite compatible for running a business together. As of writing this, they are still running a business together.
You might have to work hard in order to find a suitable business partner as you won’t get it in just the first go but if you keep trying then you can find a suitable business partner very soon. Keep trying.
4. Leverage the Internet – If by now you haven’t found a suitable business partner, then you need to take help from the internet. There are millions of people who want to start a business but there aren’t millions of people who are lucky enough to have a co-founder when they start business.
Luckily this problem has been noticed by many businesses and they have come up with a solution as well. There are many websites where you can register as an entrepreneur and found a suitable business partner. These are some of the websites that will help you:-
- FounderDating
- StartHawk
- CoFoundersLab
- FoundersNation
- Founder2be
These are just 5 websites that can help you in finding a suitable business partner but there are many more websites on Google if you still don’t get any results. You can also leverage the power of social media to find a business partner.
If you post that you have started a business and you need a business partner on various social media platforms then you can get a good response if anyone is interested in working with you. You know the power of social media. Any content can go viral and get the attention of millions of people in just a click. If you were using social media to just consume stuff, now you have to use it productively.
5. Start a Business – The best thing you can do when you don’t have a business partner is to start your business any way. There are millions of entrepreneurs who are solopreneurs and are doing just fine. You can be the same. Just because you’re alone, doesn’t mean that you can’t start a business. If you didn’t find a business partner, then just start a business without him/her. Don’t wait for him/her. He/she can later join when you’re already up and running.
If you already have a business up and running, then you’ll have a greater chance of attracting a business partner than if you don’t start a business in the first place. Your reputation isn’t built on something that you’re going to do in the future. When you have a business, people take you more seriously that you’re looking for a business partner.
If you don’t have a business, then people might not take you seriously at all. Hence, keep looking for a suitable business partner but don’t dwell on the fact that you don’t have one. If you keep running a business and work hard, one day you’ll find a suitable business partner automatically.
6. Figure out your Values – While having a co-founder sounds really cool it has its downside as well. When you’re all alone in running a business, you can take whatever decisions you like but when you have a partner you need to consult with him/her in order to decide even the minute little details about running your business.
Having a business partner comes with some negatives as well but it can be handled very well if you and your partner share the same values, ethics and principles. This doesn’t mean that you and your partner should be the exact photocopy of each other but having the same values will align you guys to share a common vision for running the business in the same direction.
If the values are same, then you don’t need to worry as you guys can be poles apart in your personalities but the mentality should match. A business works the best when the partners have the same vision for running the business but have different personalities.
For example – While one partner is an introvert who’s shy and doesn’t talk to people, the other partner could be an extrovert who’s outgoing and can talk to various people for the cause of running business smoothly. Personalities can differ but mentalities have to be the same.
Once my friend offered me to form collaboration with him but I politely declined as we were poles apart in what we wanted in business. I could have made good money but I said no to the deal because it wasn’t aligned with my values. Hence make sure to have figured out your values which will serve as decision filters when selecting a business partner.
Become successful irrespective of a Business Partner
Finding a business partner isn’t very difficult if you know how to actually find one. It’s the same as finding a prospective partner for yourself in your personal life. If you follow the above steps, then you will find a suitable business partner for yourself very soon and even if you don’t, then that shouldn’t stop you from running a successful business alone.
If you have what it takes to run a business, then you’re powerful even when you’re all by yourself. Never underestimate yourself. I wish that you’re the next big thing who will build the next trillion dollar company.
If you liked this content, then stay tuned to StartupTrak and keep coming back for more content.
