倘若商業(yè)伙伴選擇不當(dāng)，可能會讓你的企業(yè)遭遇“滑鐵盧”。

本文最初發(fā)表于Entrepreneur.com網(wǎng)站。

在我的多次創(chuàng)業(yè)經(jīng)歷中，曾遇到過好的合作伙伴，也有過糟糕的經(jīng)歷。其中一次的經(jīng)歷讓我印象格外深刻。起初，一切進(jìn)展順利，因?yàn)槲业暮献骰锇閾碛胸S富的行業(yè)知識和廣泛的人際關(guān)系。一開始，我們幾乎可以討論一切問題，那時(shí)我覺得在我們的努力下，發(fā)展前途必定一片光明。當(dāng)時(shí)感覺確實(shí)很棒，至少在一段時(shí)間內(nèi)是這樣的。但是后來，我們之間出現(xiàn)了性格方面的沖突，此后，我們的討論變得既無趣又沒有成效。自此以后，我們之間的合作迅速走向了下坡路。

那么，問題到底出在哪里？其實(shí)，最大的問題在于我對他還不夠了解。我沒有花時(shí)間對他進(jìn)行盡職調(diào)查，而是將重點(diǎn)放在如何利用他的行業(yè)知識以及我對產(chǎn)品的了解來開展經(jīng)營活動，從而讓公司迅速成長并開始盈利。而在此之前，我們并未進(jìn)行過任何合作，因而我對他的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)風(fēng)格和價(jià)值觀毫不知曉。但是，自我們開始合作共事以后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)在對待員工、客戶及金錢方面，他的行事風(fēng)格與我完全不同。而現(xiàn)在，在與我的客戶合作過程中，我對這一點(diǎn)有了更深的體會。理論上看來一切都很不錯(cuò)，然而在實(shí)踐中，隨著外部環(huán)境的變化，個(gè)性差異也會凸顯出來，麻煩也會隨之而來。

伙伴關(guān)系如婚姻關(guān)系一樣，起初都很美好，充滿了愛、玫瑰和夢想，但是伙伴關(guān)系可能很快就變成了心碎、憤怒，甚至引起法律訴訟，導(dǎo)致公司破產(chǎn)。

建立合作關(guān)系前，請仔細(xì)考慮你是否真的需要商業(yè)伙伴。若經(jīng)過認(rèn)真考慮，你發(fā)現(xiàn)你確實(shí)需要一位合作伙伴，那么請確認(rèn)你選擇的伙伴在價(jià)值觀、事業(yè)目標(biāo)、領(lǐng)導(dǎo)風(fēng)格及工作技能方面都與你非常匹配。因?yàn)榛锇殛P(guān)系一旦建立，若要拆散它，將會比當(dāng)初建立時(shí)難得多。

為避免糟糕的伙伴關(guān)系，請參考以下八條建議。

1.信任。

將信任列于首位是有道理的。判斷你是否信任一個(gè)人，底線是你是否愿意向他/她透露你的個(gè)人銀行賬戶信息。若答案是否定的，那么對于是否能與其建立伙伴關(guān)系，就需要三思而后行了。作為合作伙伴，你為他花費(fèi)的每一分錢都將影響到你的個(gè)人賬本。

2.友誼。

若合作伙伴是你的好朋友，請先確認(rèn)他/她的目標(biāo)、價(jià)值觀及責(zé)任感是否與你的相一致。不要因?yàn)槟銈兪呛门笥?，就做出想?dāng)然的判斷。你也需要了解其個(gè)人生活及其生活穩(wěn)定的狀態(tài)，因?yàn)閭€(gè)人問題有時(shí)很難處理，并且極易影響一個(gè)人的工作。若你對此產(chǎn)生任何懷疑，那么請勿與之建立伙伴關(guān)系。

3.試運(yùn)行

選擇一位曾經(jīng)一起共事的人進(jìn)行合作，例如曾經(jīng)一起從事過某項(xiàng)非營利活動或共同開展過一些項(xiàng)目。你需要了解他/她是否具有良好的團(tuán)隊(duì)合作精神，以及面臨困境時(shí)會作何反應(yīng)。若你和他/她沒有任何共同工作的經(jīng)歷，那么在最終確立合作關(guān)系之前，試著共事一段時(shí)間，以便更加全面地了解對方。

4.合作伙伴、員工及顧問

千萬不要因?yàn)楣筒黄鹉硞€(gè)人，就轉(zhuǎn)而與他/她們建立伙伴關(guān)系。最好先聘請他/她們做公司的顧問，而非一開始便讓其加入你的公司，而后發(fā)現(xiàn)他/她并不是一位好的合作伙伴。

5.優(yōu)勢互補(bǔ)

確保你和你的合作伙伴有各自擅長的領(lǐng)域，從而實(shí)現(xiàn)優(yōu)勢互補(bǔ)。若你的兩個(gè)合作伙伴都擅長銷售，但均不善于運(yùn)營層面的執(zhí)行工作，那么這將增加你的工作難度。最好選擇與你優(yōu)勢互補(bǔ)的人。而要實(shí)現(xiàn)盈利，則需要保持一定的平衡。

6.平衡責(zé)任

雙方需要事先就在公司承擔(dān)的責(zé)任達(dá)成一致，并遵照執(zhí)行。若某個(gè)人試圖控制并包攬一切，而最后做出的成果卻很少，那么這一伙伴關(guān)系便開始面臨解體，并滋生不滿情緒。

7.金錢

如婚姻一樣，金錢在商業(yè)伙伴關(guān)系中也扮演著重要角色。因此，關(guān)于如何運(yùn)用籌集到的資金以及如何分配利益，在一開始就應(yīng)當(dāng)達(dá)成一致。

8.評估/合同

一旦有合作伙伴為避免分歧而決定離開公司，那么你就應(yīng)該為公司價(jià)值確定一個(gè)準(zhǔn)則了。買賣協(xié)議對于所有可能性的討論極為有用，且有助于將問題扼殺于萌芽狀態(tài)。

為什么說以上幾點(diǎn)如此重要？原因在于，糟糕的伙伴關(guān)系可能會摧毀一家偉大的公司，并且讓公司始終無法充分發(fā)揮出自身潛力。創(chuàng)業(yè)及/或建立合作是一次情感體驗(yàn)。但在進(jìn)行盡職調(diào)查時(shí)，請將你的情感放到一邊，確保所有的一切都得到合理、妥善的安排，從而保證未來團(tuán)隊(duì)的穩(wěn)定。 （財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：司慧杰/汪皓

Because the wrong business partner can sink your business.

This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.

As a serial entrepreneur, I’ve had my share of good and bad business partners. One experience in particular started out pretty good because this person had lots of industry knowledge and connections. We literally could walk into just about any account and the prospect would buy our services. It was great, at least for a while. Then personality conflicts started and it was no longer fun or productive and it quickly went downhill from there.

So what went wrong? The biggest problem was not knowing him very well. Rather than taking the time to do the due diligence on him, the focus was on the chance to grow a company quickly and profitably based on his knowledge of the industry and my knowledge of the product. We had never worked together before so leadership style or values were an unknown. However, once we started working together, it quickly became clear that his way of doing business was totally different in terms of employees, customers and money. I see this a lot when working with clients now. It looks great on paper but issues arise when put into practice and personalities react to various situations.

Just like a marriage that starts off all hearts, roses and dreams, a partnership can quickly turn into heartbreak, anger, lawsuits and bankruptcy.

Before you even think of pulling the trigger with a business partner, contemplate whether you even need one at all. If you decide it is a good idea, make sure you get the best match to your own values, goals, leadership style and skills. Because once you become partners, it is vastly more difficult to undo the partnership than it is to create it.

Following are eight points to consider to avoid a bad partnership.

1. Trust.

This is first on the list for a reason. Bottom line, do you trust this individual with your personal bank account. If the answer is “no,” think twice. As partners, every dollar you spend proportionately affects your personal check book.

2. Friendship.

If the person is a good friend, make sure that their goals, values and responsibilities are aligned to yours. Don’t assume just because you get along as friends that they are. Take a look at their personal life and how stable it is. Personal problems are difficult and can easily complicate their professional life. If there is any doubt, don’t do it.

3. Trial run.

Select a person you have experience with at work, at a nonprofit or on a project. You should know if they are a team player and how they react in difficult situations. If you have no experience with a potential partner at all, do a trial run for a specified period of time before finalizing the partnership.

4. Partner, employee or consultant.

Don’t partner with someone just because you can’t afford to hire them. It is better to hire them as a consultant than to give away a part of your company or to find out later that he/she is not a good partner for you.

5. Varied strengths.

Make sure you and your partner’s strengths are in different areas. If you have two people who are good at sales and no one who is good at executing on an operational level, it will be more challenging than you think. It is much better to bring someone in who will compliment your strengths. In order to grow profitably, keep some balance.

6. Balanced responsibilities.

Both parties need to agree up front what their responsibilities are in the company and stick to them. If one person keeps trying to take over and do everything or ends up doing very little, then the partnership will start to unravel and feelings of resentment will fester.

7. Money.

Just like in marriage, money is always one of the major problems in a business partnership. Therefore, agree in the beginning how you will use the funding you raise and how the profits will be distributed.

8. Valuation/contracts.

Decide on a formula to determine the value of the company should one partner decide to leave to avoid disagreements. Buy/Sell agreements are incredibly useful for discussing all possibilities and how they will be handled before they become a reality.

Why is all of this so important? Because a great business can be severely damaged by a bad partnership and never reach its full potential. Starting a business and/or a partnership is an emotional experience. When doing your due diligence, set your emotions aside and make sure everything lines up and has the potential at staying aligned.