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Business partners
There are several things that can cause the break up of business partners. Let's take a look at only a few but most common ones:
- one of the business partners decided to stop working with the other
- the common business grows, stagnates or falls suddenly
- because of an increased financial need from one side, this business partner wants more money from the common business
- unsatisfactory results from one or the other side and lack of understanding
Having a business partner is like a marriage in many different ways, like requiring a high level of trust and the fact that not anyone will do. And, as in marriages, divorce is common; in fact it's more so in business partners. Since the divorce rate is running at about 50%, you should proceed carefully in taking an important business risk with less than a 50-50 statistical outlook. Unfortunately breakups of business partners are often unpleasant and expensive. The first thing to ask a prospective business partner is about the ways in which they collaborated and how interested they are in collaborating in the future. You'll find about 60% are actively engaged in some form of business collaboration and 70% wanted to do more in the future.
So our advice in finding a partner is to "date first." Consider your first meeting with the potential distributor as a blind date, where Distributor.si can give you the full picture before the actually randez-vous. It's a lot easier, especially when looking for a full business partner. While you're engaged in this "free-trial", you can observe the behavior of the company or person you're working with, listen to their "war stories," particularly about litigation or financial problems, and notice your own emotional reactions to the interactions you have. If all signs are "go," then proceed to proposing.
How do you find your future business partners in Slovenia or Croatia? You may do it online in lists of groups, on message boards and via their web sites (hard if you don't speak the local languages); reading what they write or is written about them in print publications pertinent to your interests. But most people are more comfortable with contacts they make either through referrals by "gatekeepers" and colleagues or through contacts they make at meetings and events. Gatekeepers are often active participants in their professional organizations so attending such functions is a good way to meet them.
Business partners