Finding the ideal business partner: our guide

The key steps to find a business partner

Step 1: Establishing your criteria

Before looking for a partner, you probably avoid ending up with a random person. So, you’ll first have to define your selection criteria. In other words, what will be your process to determine who is going to be your business partner.

Analyze existing and potential needs for your company

This is an essential first substep: evaluate what your business needs in terms of skills and expertise. Here are a few examples of potential questions you might need to examine:

• Are you strong in product development but lacking in marketing? 
• Do you need someone with experience of raising funds or managing finances?
• Are you proficient in technology but need a partner with deep industry connections and a strong sales background? 

Thanks to this preliminary set of questions, you will come to understand the gaps in your current capabilities and therefore identify the specific expertise that your business requires. Which will be undeniably helpful throughout your entire search.

Identify complementary skills

Obviously, a business partner should always bring strengths that you lack, ensuring that together you can cover all aspects of the business.

For example, if you excel in creative thinking and product development, you might need a partner who is strong in operations, sales, or financial management. The goal is to build a balanced executive team with a diverse set of skills, where each member plays an active role in different areas of the business. This diversity will not only help in the early stages (as those can quickly get out of hand if role distribution is not clear) but also provide a solid foundation for long-term success.

Step 2: Where and how to look for a good business partner

Utilize your existing network

As with everything work or business-related, your connections are a valuable resource when searching for a potential business partner. 

Reach out to: 

• colleagues ; 
• mentors ; 
• former classmates ; 
• industry contacts. 

Let them know you’re looking for a co-founder. When they know you, they may also know someone who is a great fit for your business. Besides, networking events, conferences, and industry meetups are excellent opportunities to connect with like-minded individuals.

Explore online networks and platforms

This doesn’t come as a surprise, there are online solutions dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs, such as: 

• CoFoundersLab ; 
• https://startupnation.com/ ; 
• AngelList (originally designed to find business angels, it is now able to help you find co founders too) ;
• industry specific platforms such as AllyMatch for tech & innovation, for instance.

These are quite useful to find a co-founder with the skills and experience you’re looking for. We didn’t include it in the list but LinkedIn is another powerful tool in this regard. You can search for professionals with specific expertise, join relevant groups such as FounderDating, and engage in discussions to expand your network.

Also consider visiting forums and online communities (subReddits) focused on entrepreneurship and startups as they are valuable resources too.

Step 3: Evaluate the potential of your business partner

Conduct due diligence

Before committing to a partnership, it’s essential to conduct thorough due diligence. This is about verifying your potential partner: 

• background: academic training and/or knowledge of your sector ; 
• experience: as a business owner, as an executive manager, etc.  ; 
• track record: their successes and failures and more importantly the reasons behind those successes and failures. 

Check references from previous business ventures or employers to get a sense of their work style, reliability, and integrity. It’s also important to assess their financial situation and ability to contribute to the business, especially if you’re planning to raise funds or need significant capital investment.

Align values and long-term goals

Ensuring that you and your potential business partner share the same vision for the business is one the best moves you can do at this stage to mitigate risks. In fact, it is of utmost importance to triple check that everyone is on the same page because divergent visions are a recipe for disaster.

This is why you need to discuss your motivations, expectations, and what success looks like to each of you regarding: 

• the company’s mission ; 
• the culture you want to establish in your company with your clients and among your teams ;
• the direction in which you want to take the business.

Step 4: Strengthen the partnership

Know that you know who your cofounder is, you still have to set the foundation for effective collaboration.

Create a partnership agreement

First thing to create the right conditions for a fruitful partnership is a partnership agreement.

This is a document outlining the terms of the partnership, including but not limited to: 

• the roles and responsibilities of each partner ; 
• the distribution of equity (ownership ratio) ; 
• decision-making processes ; 
• the procedure for resolving disputes. 

This agreement should also cover what happens if one partner decides to leave the business or if the partnership needs to be dissolved. Having a clear, written agreement is the safest way to prevent misunderstandings since it provides a framework for handling any issues that  might arise.

Maintain effective communication

Open and honest communication is key to a successful partnership. And this also applies to business! If you want to keep a healthy business collaboration, here is some advice:

• regular check-ins and meetings (be they formal or informal) ; 
• transparent discussions about business challenges ; 
• a common willingness to address conflicts head-on ; 
• flexibility and agility when it comes to business evolution.

Cofounder responsibilities: What you need to know

Defining founder responsibilities

As we previously mentioned, knowing who is in charge of what is key to the success of any business partnership. Especially since the title of founder comes with a mantle of diverse and multifaceted responsibilities. As the visionary behind the business idea, the founder sets the tone, culture, and strategic direction of the company. Here’s a more detailed look at the different key areas of responsibility:

Vision and strategic direction

At the heart of the founder’s role is the establishment of a clear and compelling vision for the company. This means that founders have to: 

• articulate the mission ; 
• set long-term goals ; 
• elaborate strategies to achieve these objectives. 

As a business founder you need to make sure that this vision resonates with the leadership team, employees, but also future investors.

Business planning and development

Crafting a comprehensive business plan is another critical responsibility that comes with the founder job. It’s a comprehensive document that outlines: 

• the company’s objectives ; 
• market analysis ; 
• marketing strategies ; 
• operational plans ; 
• financial projections. 

Basically, it’s a roadmap that guides your company through its early stages and is instrumental in attracting funding and partnerships.

Fundraising and investor relations

Speaking of raising funds, this often happens to be one of the most challenging aspects of starting a business. Founders spearhead efforts to secure initial funding through various avenues such as venture capital, angel investors or crowdfunding. 

The pursuit of funds inevitably involves its fair share of: 

• pitching the business idea ; 
• negotiating terms ; 
• maintaining relationships with investors. 

Building the executive and leadership teams

For better or for worse, you cannot execute the vision you have for your company all by yourself! For that, you’ll need to assemble a competent and cohesive executive team. 

But competency is not enough. This is the reason why you want to recruit individuals who not only possess the necessary skills and expertise but also align with your company’s culture and values. However you cannot expect full employee engagement without a positive and healthy work environment. Alignment goes both ways. This is why you should foster an environment where each team member feels empowered to contribute meaningfully to the company’s success.

Operational oversight

In the early stages, the founder often takes an active role in overseeing daily operations. 

This hands-on approach is quite demanding, both mentally and physically speaking, so be careful to not burnout. However operational oversight helps the business stay on course and ensures that any issue is promptly addressed. 

As the company grows, you may delegate operational responsibilities, but as long as you are the head of your business, you will continue to monitor performance and strategic alignment.

Sharing responsibilities among cofounders

When you have cofounders, it’s important to divide the executive workload by assigning roles based on each founder’s set of skills. For example, one partner might take on the role of CEO, focusing on overall strategy and fundraising, while another might handle the role of CTO, overseeing product development and technology.

Commitment of time and resources

We cannot stress enough how starting a business requires a significant commitment of time and resources from all cofounders: have an open discussion about each founder’s availability and willingness to invest time and effort into the business. Address not only the initial startup phase but also the long-term commitment dedicated to grow the business. Once again, as founders, you all need to be aligned on your level of involvement and the expectations for your respective roles in the company.

Financial investment

Whether it’s contributing personal savings to fund the business or securing investment from potential investors, all founders need to be prepared to make financial sacrifices to support the business. Just like with time and other resources, it’s important to discuss and agree on how much each associate will contribute financially and how the equity will be distributed based on these contributions.

All in all, even though starting and sustaining a new company is a challenging endeavor that will demand a high level of commitment, communication and collaboration, finding the ideal business partner is not absurdly difficult, provided you put the right amount of effort in meticulous planning and organization. Remember to first look for complementarity, then on alignment and finally make sure that roles are assigned to play to everyone’s respective strengths.