Ep 22: Pros and cons of a business partnership

[00:00:00] Dorielle: If you're looking for a business partner, there are many factors to consider, including the workload and your work preferences, your resources, their fields of expertise, are you working a full-time job while you're trying to start the business? Would the partner be more accessible and flexible in their schedule? Do you have the resources to start the business, the funds, and your personality. Are you a fact finder? Um, are you detail oriented? And it may benefit you to have a partner that's more creative and idea focused so that you can complement each other.

[00:40:00] Jamelah: I agree with my sister. I think we like to think of our partnerships as, kind of the Swiss cheese model. You want the holes in the cheese to, to not line up on every slice so that everybody has you know, the same deficiencies and the same strengths. So we try to kind of like stagger our Swiss cheese holes a little bit, so that where one of us is not as great, the other one can complement and vice versa.

[00:01:00] Andrea: You also happen to be sisters, so I think you might have had years of practice. There's a lot to consider when going into business with a partner. So let’s get into it.

[00:01:12] Host: Hi, This is Small Business, a podcast by Amazon. I’m your host, Andrea Marquez. This is one of our TISB Minisodes - shorter episodes for those of you who want a quicker binge. On this episode we'll be discussing the pros and cons of having a business partner with Dorielle Price and Jamelah Tucker, sisters and co-founders of Easy Peasie.

[00:01:35] Andrea: For context, tell me how you decided to partner on Easy Peasie.

[00:01:40] Dorielle: It started as a mom hack for my youngest son. I was switching to formula sooner than I wanted to, and I knew that he would not be exposed to the flavors that he would've been exposed to through breastfeeding. So I turned to my sister, and I was like, Hey, turn your pediatrician brain on, I have this issue that I wanna try to resolve. [00:02:00] So I told her, and she did some research. We did some experiments and came up with the idea of drying and grinding vegetables. So we did that and added it to his foods. And over the next couple of years we had this vegetable seasoning on our tables. And family and friends tried it and they liked it, so we decided to bring it to market as Easy Peasie. And we named it that because it's easy to add vegetables to your meals and it has peas in all the blends.

[00:02:34] Jamelah: That is it. She's my little sister and she's extremely competent. So being the big sister of somebody who has always been very successful is difficult. And so, in the few times in her life that she asked me for help, I jumped on it. I knew I had to shoot my shot, so I was happy to help.

[00:02:55] Andrea: Not everyone might have the benefit of a partnership like this, but let’s start with the pros. [00:03:00] What are the top benefits to having a business partner?

[00:03:05] Dorielle: I believe you can, you know, split your responsibilities, split the workload and you can get more stuff done. And having someone to bounce ideas around with is very beneficial and coming up with solutions and new products and things like that.

[00:03:20] Jamelah: The other thing I think that's really important, that a partner brings you is just that moral support. You know, like kind of that encouragement to keep going. I really don't know how those solopreneurs do it. I, I mean, I think that's why it's important to have a network even for us in a partnership, we always gain from opportunities to learn from other small business owners.

[00:03:40] Andrea: Tell me about the cons to having a business partner.

[00:03:42] Dorielle: One of 'em is just, you know, there’s, there’s gonna be disagreements, you have two different people, different personalities, and different ideas, different ways of doing things. So there will be disagreements, but it's just a matter of establishing a way to resolve those disagreements, [00:04:00] whether it's a third party or just making a compromise to work things out together.

[00:04:05] Jamelah: Disagreements I think can be challenging, but I, I also think that disagreements sometimes, um, spark, um, innovation and, you know, kind of, having an opportunity to see something, see a problem or a solution from a different angle, I think are helpful things not just in business, but I think in life as adults, I think it's helpful to just learn how to resolve conflict.

I guess the other con I would add is that having a partner can sometimes slow down how things go. I mean, the decision-making process and when we have those times when, you know, her and I can't necessarily come to an agreement in that moment and where something gets delayed or something gets, you know, kind of, we have to circle back to it. I always, I think about that parable that, that says you can go faster alone, but you go further together. And so I think, you know, sometimes, the fast decision is maybe not always the right one. So I think sometimes we're forced to kind of slow down and be intentional and and mindful about what we're doing, [00:05:00] and I hope that makes our business better.

[00:05:02] Andrea: Do you have a third party that you go to when you disagree?

[00:05:05] Dorielle: Mom

[00:05:05] Jamelah: Mum

[00:05:08] Andrea: Of course, you do. I love that. But what about something more formal?

[00:05:13] Dorielle: We started off with a legal operating agreement and just covered all the bases on those things.

[00:05:20] Jamelah: Our mom does definitely do some conflict resolution between us, but we also do have the good fortune of having mentors, business mentors, but we were definitely lucky that when we started our business, it was I think my old accountant at the time that set up our incorporation paperwork and like our articles in incorporation and he said that straight away. He was like, yeah family, mm-hmm. Families, it's great, but sometimes things fall apart. And so you guys should make this official, make everything as, you know, as official as possible. It doesn't necessarily prevent conflict. But when things are not good, or, you know, in the event that it's not Dorielle and I that are doing the conflict resolution that we're so good at, [00:06:00] but it's someone else's introduced into the equation having paperwork in advance I think is helpful. So we got good advice from the beginning, which I think was really important.

[00:06:10] Andrea: Is there any reason I wouldn't want to go into business with a partner?

[00:06:15] Dorielle: Yes, so if you don't need a partner. If you have all the resources you need to start the business, if you have the time, the funds, the expertise. I don't think a, a partner is necessary. You can have the specialists and the contractors to help you with those certain tasks that you need done, that you might not have the bandwidth to do. But as far as the management side of things, if you can handle it, no, no partner needed. And, you know, having a good partner is beneficial, but also having a bad partner can be detrimental. So if you find an individual that doesn't align with your goals or your vision, then it's not worth [00:07:00] bringing them on and just disagreements all the time and not benefiting your business.

[00:07:07] Jamelah: I agree with Dorielle and I was actually thinking about, I have examples of friends that are also business owners that they initially had a business idea but were worried about the workload. And kind of knowing that they were going to need help in other areas in order to get the business off the ground. And so I kind of watched them go through the pros and cons of, should I just have a consultant or do I actually wanna partner? And so, I would say in both of those examples, they ended up taking on partners and now a few years into the business, one of them ended up with three partners in the business. And literally just a couple weeks ago, she said to me, I don't know if we really needed that third partner. And splitting off one third of your profits is a lot. So I, I completely agree with Dorielle. I mean, you really have to make sure that, that person's value, what they're bringing to the business is really worth that equity because if it's someone [00:08:00] that you don't need for a long period of time, it's someone that you need a particular skill or a deliverable from. And that definitely is someone that a contractor to you, maybe a short-term employee something to that extent, but not a partner. So I, I would be very mindful and intentional about that.

The second thing I will say is for my personal life, I think that not, not everybody does great in partnerships, and so I think that's not always something that we know about ourselves as young people. I think we learn more and more about ourselves as we get older. Being in a partnership requires those conflict resolution skills. It does require compromise. It requires, I think, a lot of self-reflection, and not everybody is willing to do that work. So I think that in business and in life, I think it's important to have, if you're going to have a partner, to make sure it's someone who's willing to do the work that it takes to be in a good partnership.

[00:08:50] Host: That was Dorielle Price and Jamelah Tucker, co-founders of Easy Peasie talking about the pros and cons of going into business with a partner. [00:09:00] As always, here are some key takeaways.

• You might not need a business partner. Giving away equity is a big deal so make sure that person is worth it. Who knows, maybe the extra help you need could be done by a contractor or an employee.
• If you've decided you want a business partner, make sure you've honed your conflict resolution skills because every relationship has some roadblocks and a business partnership is no different.
• The Swiss cheese model. Make sure your business partner isn't an exact replica of you and your skills and instead has complimentary skills that could add value to your business and maybe a different perspective.
• Protect yourself legally even if it’s family. We’ve seen this in the past episode with Meghan Wolfgram from SwiftPaws. You never know what might go wrong in the future or if you'll need an outside person to help resolve some conflict between you. And this leads us to…
• 00:10:00] Have a third party to go to in case you disagree. This could be mentors, other business owners, or even…your mom.

That's it for this episode of This is Small Business Minisodes, brought to you by Amazon. On the next episode, we'll be talking about how you can help the community while growing your business.

If you liked what you heard, make sure to subscribe and tell your friends about us by sending them a link to this episode. And we would love to know what you think, so leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. It's easier to do it through your phone. Or send us an email at thisissmallbusiness@amazon.com with your thoughts.

Until next time – This is Small Business, I'm your host Andrea Marquez -- Hasta luego -- and thanks for listening!

CREDITS: This is Small Business is brought to you by Amazon, with technical and story production by JAR Audio. [00:11:00]