Partnerships
Did you know that 80% of business partnerships end up failing? That statistic doesn’t surprise me. Partnerships are tough. You take two imperfect people and try to get them to work towards a common goal. Achieving goals can be hard enough by yourself let alone with someone else. That statistic might also suggest that business partnerships are harder than marriages, as only 50% of marriages fail.
In a way, partnerships and marriages are similar, both are dealing with trust, money, expectations, goals and you have to make a conscious choice to stay in them. So why in the world did I, or anyone else for that matter, start down the partnership path? There are many reasons, but here are a few…
Two heads are better than one. We all have different strengths and weaknesses and to partner with someone who is gifted in areas that you are weak lets you focus on the things you are good at. It makes both of us better advisors. I am proud to say that Bryan and I are completely different and the areas I find lacking are the areas that he shines in. Those differences have benefited our clients greatly. There have been times where we flat out disagree on the direction we think someone should go, and at that point, we get to offer our client two different strategies and let them decide. This saying sums it up perfectly – “If you want to go fast, go by yourself. If you want to go far, take others.”
Hold each other accountable. We spend more time together than we do with our spouses and because of that, we have an amazing opportunity to hold each other accountable for the big things as well as the small things. Bryan and I are able to hold each other accountable for everything from eating healthy and working out to reading and checking things off our business list to managing our personal lives. There is a piece of mind that comes with being able to hold someone accountable and being accountable to someone else.
Pick each other up when it gets rough. The reality is that it isn’t always great. Things get tight and we get stressed out about things in our business but it is so much easier when you have someone to walk through that with you. We have our disagreements, but at the end of the day, we both know that we are going to choose to stay in this partnership, through thick and thin. I absolutely love what I do every day, but I wouldn’t love it near as much without Bryan.
Life is more fun together. At times it can be more challenging, but it can also be way more fulfilling. Bryan and I laugh together often, and it is just more fun with him. There are times when I walk out of a meeting and I can’t describe the feeling of overwhelming joy and love I have for our clients. And the best part is I can talk about what just happened with Bryan. He was there and we can debrief together, instead of having to recreate or retell the story to anyone else.
Partnerships can be and are hard, but at the end of the day being in a partnership refines me and makes me a better person and advisor, and it also makes me uncommon, and I like that.