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| | | BabyFodder
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/4/2006 4:49:50 PM
Posts: 3, Visits: 14 |
| I realize this is a very general question. How do we find our future business partners? I am having difficulty meeting motivated individuals who are willing to forego some personal comfort to get a business started. I feel like I am surrounded by employee-mentality individuals who are reluctant to take any risks in life. May I should stop looking for a partner and just go on my own? Regards,
Alex N
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| | | Fodder Emeritus
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 1/28/2008 9:05:38 PM
Posts: 101, Visits: 186 |
| This is a general question...but it's a darned good one: How/where does a budding entrepreneur find motivated people who are willing to take a risk? The answer is: Everywhere. And nowhere. There is no "one size fits all" approach to this question. Here are some sources where you potentially may find great business partners: Current/former schoolmates, personal friends, current professional associates, past professional associates, complete strangers you met at networking events, referrals from mutual acquaintances. And here are some sources where you may find absolutely horrible business partners: Current/former schoolmates, personal friends, current professional associates, past professional associates, complete strangers you met at networking events, referrals from mutual acquaintances. "Hey!" you might be saying to yourself. "Those two lists are the identical!" "Yes, they are," I say to myself. "Instead of focusing on finding the places where you can find partners who are entrepreneurial risk takers, focus on finding partners you can work with. Partners who compliment your skill set. For example, maybe you're a great sales person, but your accounting skills are poor. A (potentially) great fit would be to find an accounting and finance wiz who realizes he's not a sales person." Another thing to remember is there is no right or wrong answer. Everyone has a different tolerence to risk. Just because some people do not have an interest in chucking everything and taking some wild *** risks with their careers, doens't make them bad. It probably makes them people who have children, mortgages, and other worries. As for you last question, why are you waiting for a partner? If you have an idea, if you have a way to hustle some bucks and start your own business...do it! Arise, you entrepreneurs of the world, you have nothing to lose but your paychecks. And your savings. And your credit ratings. And your houses. But if you believe in yourself, if you are hardworking, resourceful, and if you realize you don't need an outside investment before you can make sales calls...you just might have a chance! Good luck, and let us know how things go.
Dr. VC
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Cynicism is not an end, but a means to reach objectivity. |
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Fodder Chief
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 3/4/2008 5:30:47 PM
Posts: 179, Visits: 845 |
| This is a great question.
I have a few comments to share:
First, don't go into business with friends or family members as partners, no matter how good your intentions and no matter how solid the contracts or operating agreements are. Things won't end up well. Be prepared to destroy your relationship with those people. Worse, you won't hold them accountable the same way you would hold a business partner accountable, and you're feel uncomfortable telling them what to do.
Second, your comments about people with an "employee mentality" are accurate. This has been an enormous problem for me, too. It's completely true. People do have this mentality. Some of them may have the right disposition for it, but it has yet to be unlocked. There is another type of person to avoid, however. That is the person who thinks they have the start-up partner mentality, but is really just after the stock options, equity, and weekend golf. Hopefully the market correction has weeded a lot of these folks out. Starting a business is not for the faint of heart.
Finally, Dr. VC is right about finding people who complement your skills. When I first went into business, I picked a few other techie people to be partners. This was a huge mistake because I am a software developer, too. Thus, we had a bunch of motivated software developers ready to build an unknown product for an unknown target audience. The same applies if everyone in sales. It doesn't matter how great everyone's sales skills are if you don't have a product. |
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| | | KinderFodder
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2/13/2006 6:28:58 PM
Posts: 10, Visits: 9 |
| | ALEX N; IN GENERAL MOST PEOPLE LIKE TO STAY IN THEIR COMFORT ZONE AND VERY FEW WILL TAKE A RISK EVEN IF THE RISK IS SMALL. GO FOR IT! IT WILL TAKE TIME TO FIND THE RIGHT MATCHED PEOPLE WHICH WILL HAVE THE SAME VISION AS YOU;THIS IS CRITICAL TO FIND THE RIGHT TEAM. THOSE PEOPLE WILL MAKE IT OR BREAK IT! DO NOT GIVE UP JUST GO FOR IT NOW. IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME PEOPLE WILL BE KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR TO COME WORK FOR YOU. 
www.XtremeCarsandStars.com
mdfxtreme@yahoo.com |
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| | | KinderFodder
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 5/12/2006 10:33:08 PM
Posts: 11, Visits: 23 |
| What is the business? Where is it located? What skill sets are you looking for in a partner(s)? What would you want them to bring to the partnership (e.g. capital, human capital, etc)? What will they get in return?
Raymond Pisarczyk
Tel: 847-668-3934
raymond_pisarczyk@yahoo.com |
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SophomoreFodder
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/14/2008 11:28:31 PM
Posts: 150, Visits: 461 |
| | I tend to go to places like where people are presenting business plans or other Entrepreneur heavy environments. I go primarily to make contacts, but you never know when you might meet someone who 3-4 months down the road might have decided their plan is not as good as yours and want to hook up. Just remember, it's never to early to play the acquisition game. Chances are there are other people working on something similar to what you want to do and you can merge the two companies and have a much better chance of succeeding. Side note: Oddest thing I ever looked for a partners was creating and posting fliers at universities where I knew MBA students would be. Most of them are raring to go and they have very little risk adversion.
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Fodder Chief
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 3/4/2008 5:30:47 PM
Posts: 179, Visits: 845 |
| | Know any college professors? You could ask them to recommend some students for internships. |
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| | | KinderFodder
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 3/16/2006 8:41:29 AM
Posts: 13, Visits: 24 |
| | Hello, Just to chime in.. MBA students are risk-adverse by nature. If they weren't, they'd be starting up a business instead of going to b-school <I'm a product of one and I've seen the folks that go!  >. Some good ways to find risk-taking folks would probably be start-up seminars, how to start small business seminars at your local chamber of commerce, technology-clubs <a lot of tech folks prefer small to large since they are easier to make an impact at>, and entrepreunerial get-togethers. In large cities, it's easier to find these folks then smaller ones I think as well, since you have a larger customer base to sell to, there is a higher-motivation to start a business.
Manish M. Shah
President
AcceleWeb, Inc. |
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| | | Fodder Emeritus
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 1/28/2008 9:05:38 PM
Posts: 101, Visits: 186 |
| Alex, these are some really good suggestions that other people have provided! I hope you've found them helpful. Thanks everyone for "chiming in" on this post. Great ideas!
Dr. VC
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Cynicism is not an end, but a means to reach objectivity. |
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