A business partnership is somewhat like a marriage. You hit it off with a person with similar interests and goals, so you join forces for what you believe will be a long-term relationship.
Then things might start to unravel. The two of you seem to have developed differing visions for the company. You have different approaches to problems and challenges. There is now more animosity and bickering than agreement about issues large and small.
You really don’t want to give up on your partner and begin all over again with someone else. What can you do to improve matters?
You may both have to adjust your thinking
Try these suggestions for improving things between you and your partner:
- Look at things from your partner’s viewpoint.
- Learn to trust your partner again. Trust is the basic building block of any relationship.
- Couples who are at odds are sometimes advised to remember what initially attracted them to each other. Do likewise with your business partner. Think back to why you wanted to work with them. What aspirations do you both still share for the company?
- Compromising is important. Be a little more flexible. Maybe your partner has ideas that don’t exactly mesh with yours but merit exploring. Bending a bit can ultimately have a big payoff.
- Communication lapses probably helped originate the problems. Working on making communication better between the two of you can be a good starting point.
- Don’t dwell on what happened to make the partnership go awry. Concentrate on the future and stay positive.
You may want some input from an impartial source to help in this process. If it turns out that the business partnership can’t be healed, then get advice on how to end it in a fashion that meets all legal requirements.