https://www.businessknowhow.com/startup/badpartnership.htm
If you're in a business partnership or a longstanding working relationship that isn't working, ask yourself these questions. Then, if you need to change or end the partnership, follow these five steps.
A client, we'll call her Susan, had a business that was struggling financially and operationally. She was totally disgusted because her partner of 10 years was no longer carrying his weight and didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. She was so stressed she was seriously considering liquidating the business if things couldn't be changed for the better in a very short time.
What to do? Her first commitment had to be to herself. Susan was able to realize that it was up to her to take command of this situation. She was coached to create some measurable goals with timeframes. She decided she wanted to give the business and her partner one last chance. Susan knew she must bring her partner, and eventually her staff, into the picture in order to get their buy-in.
She created Job Roles for herself, her partner and each of her staff (Office Manager, Buyer and 2 Salesmen). Because of the longstanding relationship between her and her partner, we agreed it was best if I met with the partner and her to present things up to this point. Preparing for this was anxiety-producing for Susan, but also liberating. NOTE: Using a third party (like a coach or consultant) can offer a different perspective to a known problem.
The partner was cordial and listened politely, as had been expected. But, of course, he didn't really GET IT that things had to change. Susan gave it three months under the new plan. Unfortunately, she had to bite the bullet and make the decision to liquidate the business. Fortunately, she was able to see the handwriting on the wall way in advance and gave herself six months to finalize the liquidation. Susan is in the process of purchasing a new business which will be hers alone. She could only do that once she realized she didn't actually need a partner. She had been carrying the business alone for several years anyway.
If you're in a business partnership or a longstanding working relationship that isn't working, ask yourself why you got into the relationship to begin with. Many times people just don't feel ready to take on the full responsibility of running a business so they look for anyone who is interested and willing to work with them. Having the wrong partner is the basis of many partner problems. How to find the right partner is, of course, the topic for another article.
