August 25, 2013 at 21:56Partnership A lot of this word?
An alternative point of view on partnership, regarding that which investment funds preach.
A partner can assist in investing. When there is not enough money, and you don’t want to take out a loan from the bank, you can sell the enterprise’s share to a comrade who will help with money.
You can discuss the strategy and tactics of the project development with a partner. Thanks to this discussion, new ideas are born, weaknesses and new opportunities are revealed.
A partner can provide confidential storage of project information.
A partner can perform part of the work. In the event that the partner is self-sufficient and has extensive working experience, he will carry out the work really conscientiously.
A partner can be an expert in a subject area, or even more interesting, be a professional partner.
A partner can solve tasks of a political and diplomatic nature. Ignore this thesis until the real price of the assets of your project is expressed in less than a seven-digit number.
The real value of assets is cash in circulation, revenue received, property, and so on. That is what really is. This includes patents and trademark rights, but do not include other types of intellectual property and diplomas.
A partner can assist in investing. And then you have to share the cake, at best. Usually, in 99% of cases, the pie does not have time to become large enough to divide.
Partner can participate in project management. The vast majority of projects are very small, the number of management issues is small, and their importance (leverage) - on the contrary, is significant. Therefore, the situation often arises of "two bears in one den." Regardless of how things are going (and they are always going much more modestly than you thought) - there are many disagreements and disputes that lead to quarrels and fatal consequences of project management.
A partner can provide confidential storage of project information. Although, as practice shows, it is not necessary. For example, in a conversation with you, he may be interested, but in fact refers to his obligations through the sleeves. Including obligations to store confidential information. Documents and files are stored at home, in which case relatives, children and guests have access to them. If in the office - they can fall into the hands of colleagues.
When a partner undertakes to carry out part of the work, but does not have sufficient qualifications, has little experience or is not sufficiently involved in the project, and he will perform the work poorly or not at all.
Professional partners and experts, if involved in your project, will want to get a large share. Another danger that occurs very often - this partner already has partners operating in the same field as you, and he has already invested money there. Even if they develop less successfully than you - in those projects that you don’t know anything about, your interlocutor has already invested money and getting “exhaust” from there is a priority task than doing something for you.
Even if you are sure of the opposite - a partner can be very convincing in conversations, but at other times show a completely disregarding attitude.
The best partner for a large project (initial capitalization of more than 5 million rubles) is a bank. The bank will finance, bank experts will help to inspect and improve your management.
The cost of a bank loan allows you to check the stability of the profitability of your project. Even before concluding any transactions, at the very early stage of business planning, calculate - how comfortable the project will allow you to return a loan to the bank? Will you reliably earn at least twice as much as you need to pay? If so, the green light is on your way. If not, you just need to rethink something.
Of course, sometimes you need to review a lot. But, in fact, there are a huge number of options for developing a good business.
The best partner for a small project is relatives. They will give money, or help find them. They will provide excellent skepticism, overcoming which will be an additional exam for your plans. And they will not leave you in case of failure - what can friends do.
The most bummer partner is friends. There are, indeed, hundreds of thousands of such cases, when even the finest projects are simply bent because friends lose their enthusiasm. No matter how hot a friend is, a maximum of one month is enough. In rare cases, two.
You do not need to own jurisprudence in order to draw up a contract. Write down what you have agreed on, literally, in an understandable and accessible way to the participants.
The contract will help to distinguish between rights and obligations. In addition, to ensure a conflict-free future, you will need to consider a lot of subtleties and nuances. In fact, it will take a little time, not more than an hour. But in the future, that popular situation will not happen when, when making decisions, discussing and commenting, partners simply forget about some initial conditions and agreements. The signed is not forgotten - such is the magic of the document.
Please note that many non-professional partners are not really prepared for investment risks. In the worst case, they really expect a categorical refund with interest, and they will require it, regardless of the fate and pace of development of the project. In the best case, the relationship will go bad anyway.
Taking even the most loyal friends as partners is always not the best decision, for another reason. Having passed the cycle of an unsuccessful project, you, as an author, get new ideas, vision and experience. And we are ready to do the next, more successful business project. And investors have to be searched again - it’s unlikely that it will turn out for the second time to appeal to people whom you have already disappointed.
So to summarize. Why not manage the project alone? Why not invest yourself? How is a partner useful?
There is a professional point of view that at an early stage, investments are more likely to harm the project. It is easy to find articles on this topic, including on the Habr.
At any stage, the healthy goal of the project should be to make a profit, not to attract investment.
Financing issues can be addressed in another way. One of the best methods that I described in one of the earliest articles on Habré is the creation of intermediate projects, with significantly lower cost and lower risks. They can be very different from key ideas, but let you:
Upon receipt of reliable interim results, you will form a package suitable for professional partnership. With this you can already go to the bank - they willingly lend business development.
You can discuss the project with friends and colleagues. Hire someone for money, even small ones, entrust him with part of the work and discuss direct and indirect issues if your interlocutor is interested. For example, many freelancers who perform work even on the smallest scale, have sufficient experience, and can tell you some very interesting decisions, tactics and strategic moves.
Ask a friend to be your interlocutor, but do not offer him a partnership.
Good storage of confidential information will help guglodoki or evernot. The time you spend co-designing ideas, developing details is the most effective investment in your project that you will make yourself. While you are recording some material - de facto it is subjected to additional reflection and analysis. Another important thing is the formulation of ideas in their native language, in a logical and readable way. Among professional managers, it is believed that good ideas are always easy to explain in words and diagrams, and not just on the fingers.
Partnership is good when the project is large enough, and when it is already working. In all other cases, the partners will have many problems. Naturally, in each case, the conclusions will be different.
If the project does not work, instead of looking for partners, it is advisable for the author to devote more time and attention to the launch of the project, the search for technological capabilities and their implementation. Indeed, there are a lot of opportunities in information technology.
Do you have any partnership experience? Successful, unsuccessful or ambiguous?
Strengths
A partner can assist in investing. When there is not enough money, and you don’t want to take out a loan from the bank, you can sell the enterprise’s share to a comrade who will help with money.
You can discuss the strategy and tactics of the project development with a partner. Thanks to this discussion, new ideas are born, weaknesses and new opportunities are revealed.
A partner can provide confidential storage of project information.
A partner can perform part of the work. In the event that the partner is self-sufficient and has extensive working experience, he will carry out the work really conscientiously.
A partner can be an expert in a subject area, or even more interesting, be a professional partner.
A partner can solve tasks of a political and diplomatic nature. Ignore this thesis until the real price of the assets of your project is expressed in less than a seven-digit number.
The real value of assets is cash in circulation, revenue received, property, and so on. That is what really is. This includes patents and trademark rights, but do not include other types of intellectual property and diplomas.
Weaknesses
A partner can assist in investing. And then you have to share the cake, at best. Usually, in 99% of cases, the pie does not have time to become large enough to divide.
Partner can participate in project management. The vast majority of projects are very small, the number of management issues is small, and their importance (leverage) - on the contrary, is significant. Therefore, the situation often arises of "two bears in one den." Regardless of how things are going (and they are always going much more modestly than you thought) - there are many disagreements and disputes that lead to quarrels and fatal consequences of project management.
A partner can provide confidential storage of project information. Although, as practice shows, it is not necessary. For example, in a conversation with you, he may be interested, but in fact refers to his obligations through the sleeves. Including obligations to store confidential information. Documents and files are stored at home, in which case relatives, children and guests have access to them. If in the office - they can fall into the hands of colleagues.
When a partner undertakes to carry out part of the work, but does not have sufficient qualifications, has little experience or is not sufficiently involved in the project, and he will perform the work poorly or not at all.
Professional partners and experts, if involved in your project, will want to get a large share. Another danger that occurs very often - this partner already has partners operating in the same field as you, and he has already invested money there. Even if they develop less successfully than you - in those projects that you don’t know anything about, your interlocutor has already invested money and getting “exhaust” from there is a priority task than doing something for you.
Even if you are sure of the opposite - a partner can be very convincing in conversations, but at other times show a completely disregarding attitude.
How to find and choose a partner
The best partner for a large project (initial capitalization of more than 5 million rubles) is a bank. The bank will finance, bank experts will help to inspect and improve your management.
The cost of a bank loan allows you to check the stability of the profitability of your project. Even before concluding any transactions, at the very early stage of business planning, calculate - how comfortable the project will allow you to return a loan to the bank? Will you reliably earn at least twice as much as you need to pay? If so, the green light is on your way. If not, you just need to rethink something.
Of course, sometimes you need to review a lot. But, in fact, there are a huge number of options for developing a good business.
The best partner for a small project is relatives. They will give money, or help find them. They will provide excellent skepticism, overcoming which will be an additional exam for your plans. And they will not leave you in case of failure - what can friends do.
The most bummer partner is friends. There are, indeed, hundreds of thousands of such cases, when even the finest projects are simply bent because friends lose their enthusiasm. No matter how hot a friend is, a maximum of one month is enough. In rare cases, two.
Partner Relations
You do not need to own jurisprudence in order to draw up a contract. Write down what you have agreed on, literally, in an understandable and accessible way to the participants.
The contract will help to distinguish between rights and obligations. In addition, to ensure a conflict-free future, you will need to consider a lot of subtleties and nuances. In fact, it will take a little time, not more than an hour. But in the future, that popular situation will not happen when, when making decisions, discussing and commenting, partners simply forget about some initial conditions and agreements. The signed is not forgotten - such is the magic of the document.
Please note that many non-professional partners are not really prepared for investment risks. In the worst case, they really expect a categorical refund with interest, and they will require it, regardless of the fate and pace of development of the project. In the best case, the relationship will go bad anyway.
Taking even the most loyal friends as partners is always not the best decision, for another reason. Having passed the cycle of an unsuccessful project, you, as an author, get new ideas, vision and experience. And we are ready to do the next, more successful business project. And investors have to be searched again - it’s unlikely that it will turn out for the second time to appeal to people whom you have already disappointed.
More alternatives
So to summarize. Why not manage the project alone? Why not invest yourself? How is a partner useful?
- Financing
- Discussion, generating new ideas and exams with skepticism
- Storing Confidential Information
- Performance of work
There is a professional point of view that at an early stage, investments are more likely to harm the project. It is easy to find articles on this topic, including on the Habr.
At any stage, the healthy goal of the project should be to make a profit, not to attract investment.
Financing issues can be addressed in another way. One of the best methods that I described in one of the earliest articles on Habré is the creation of intermediate projects, with significantly lower cost and lower risks. They can be very different from key ideas, but let you:
- Touch marketing
- Get something working and scalable
- Start effective work with less risk
Upon receipt of reliable interim results, you will form a package suitable for professional partnership. With this you can already go to the bank - they willingly lend business development.
You can discuss the project with friends and colleagues. Hire someone for money, even small ones, entrust him with part of the work and discuss direct and indirect issues if your interlocutor is interested. For example, many freelancers who perform work even on the smallest scale, have sufficient experience, and can tell you some very interesting decisions, tactics and strategic moves.
Ask a friend to be your interlocutor, but do not offer him a partnership.
Good storage of confidential information will help guglodoki or evernot. The time you spend co-designing ideas, developing details is the most effective investment in your project that you will make yourself. While you are recording some material - de facto it is subjected to additional reflection and analysis. Another important thing is the formulation of ideas in their native language, in a logical and readable way. Among professional managers, it is believed that good ideas are always easy to explain in words and diagrams, and not just on the fingers.
Partnership is good when the project is large enough, and when it is already working. In all other cases, the partners will have many problems. Naturally, in each case, the conclusions will be different.
If the project does not work, instead of looking for partners, it is advisable for the author to devote more time and attention to the launch of the project, the search for technological capabilities and their implementation. Indeed, there are a lot of opportunities in information technology.
Do you have any partnership experience? Successful, unsuccessful or ambiguous?