As an entrepreneur we tend to play two sides when it comes to business partnership; either we believe it’s better to do the job ourselves or we believe two heads are better than one. In some cases it can be better to get the job done yourself because you know exactly what you’re looking for and where you’re trying to take your idea. But sometimes businesses can progress if they have two heads that both understand the vision and contribute to the company’s success.

Taken on a partner in your company is what is considered to be a leverage. Ever since the beginning of time mankind have discovered new leverages to help do things in a more timely and productive fashion. From transporting goods through mules to transporting them through trains, from trains to trucks, from trucks to airplanes. The process is to cut time in half, therefore saving the sender more time to do other more important things. So in business we take on partners to leverage our time to focus on other things in the business. A partner is not meant to over shadow you or bring any competition, but to help the company in an area that may pose a weakness for you.

So we want to bring some tips to look for when deciding to take on a partner.

Tips for a winning Partnership



Don’t just look in the mirror: Figure out your own strongest capabilities and then, ideally, consider only partners who would complement them. More important, you have to be sure you and your potential partner share basic business and ethical values. Look into background and character if necessary. Don’t overlook this step, because if you do that can be a recepit for enormous downturns for your business. You have to make sure you both are going in the same direction with the same vision. Example of a potential bad patnership is; one partner has the vision of building a multi billion dollar international company that does business 24/7 and the other partner has a vision of a company that does about $500,000 in annual sales nationaly and operates 5 days a week with holidays off. Now if the partners never took the time to discuss where their future plans lied for the business once this situation occured it could damage the relationship of the partners as well as the company’s image and structure.

So when looking for a partner you want to make sure that there is a general connection between you two where you can see yourself holding a business relationship with them as well as them being able to understand and contribute to the vision that you’re trying to bring about.

Don’t look to those closest to You: Ever heard that you should never go into business with family or friends? While there’s some truth in that, many thousands of successful companies began with just such a partnership. If you click with someone enough to hang out or live with them, it could be a good predictor of entrepreneurial synergy, too.

But if you’re going to partner with someone that’s close to you, build in safeguards to protect both your business and personal relationships. What I’ve found to happen when you decide to partner with someone that’s close to you, whether it be family or a friend, is sometimes the parties may expect something from the other that they wouldn’t expect from someone else outside this relationship.

By building safeguards and guidelines into your business relationship you’re covering any potential problems if anything were to happen in the course of running your business. This is not guaranteed, however if you all discuss any issues as they arise and approach problems head on you may be able to avoid any business or personal communication breakdowns.



Decide Who does What and How much of it: Very important in any business relationship, be it a lemonade stand, janitorial venture, or consulting firm. You can never just assume that there is some type of underwritten agreement that you both already understand.

Establish clear roles, responsibilities and expectations for each partner from the git. If you’re going to share part of the same responsibilities, spell it out.

I would suggest taking out a day to sit with your partner and discuss every aspect of the business including all responsibilities and duties. Once you both have all possible aspects of the business written out, divide up the responsibilities based on each partners strength. As new responsibilities present themselves add them and dish them out.

Go for “Common Wins”: Set it up so you and your partner’s interests in the success of the business are totally aligned– when one wins, both win, regardless of who’s actually doing the achieving.

Maybe you’ve made a good hire recently as the “inside” person, while your partner just landed a big new client. Treat both successes as being for the greater good of the business. If your partnership is good, the credit and rewards for individual success will even out as the company succeeds.

Don’t Hesitate, Communicate: It’s crucial that you routinely talk, e-mail, read each other’s body language or whatever when you’re in business together. When you don’t is when your business makes the biggest mistakes. It’s best to set up regular occasions where you do nothing but communicate with each other about the company.

Never assume that everything is “A” OK when there is no communication between your partner and yourself. When situations arise make sure that you two are holding open discussions to relay what actions need to be taken. Not communicating only deepens the gap between partners and when major decisions have to be made there usually neglected because of the lack of communication, therefore only hindering the business.

Dip Your toe in the water: So you’re ready to take on a partner to help expand your business but you’re not sure what to really look for in a potential partner. Well one way to go about doing it is, hiring the potential partner as an employee to see how you two work together. Watch him/her to see what type of work ethics they carry. This way if he/she isn’t the right candidate for the position the only thing you lose is the possibility of a bad working relationship.

Marriages change, be flexible: A partnership is like a marriage in so many ways and just like marriages, partnerships change over time. The best way to be able to cope with the changes in your partnership is to be flexible. The way you first set things up may not be relevant or best suited, to later realities. So you have to agree up front on the need to be flexible – and then regularly look at the partnership to decide exactly how and where flexibility is needed.

Consider and exit strategy and keep the back door hinges oiled: It may be the farthest thing from your mind, but at the start of your partnership you should consider the possibility that someday, for some reason, it could end. As best you can, try to plan how to handle it. It may not be a partnership gone bad, it could just be the possibility that you two feel you have run the course of the partnership and think it’s best to go separate ways. So by having an exit strategy in place you are holding the partnership to account with all agreements to a potential future partnership split.

Handshakes Really are Worth the Paper They’re Written On: Regardless if you’re going into business with your brother, make sure you have a written document in place stating all the agreements and stipulations. Handshake agreements have no place in business partnerships, even if there’s goodwill all around at the start. Just make it a habit to get any important agreements in writing when dealing with business. This will save you from future breakdowns or the human tendency to forget.

This is how Kiva works: (taken directy from their site)

The below diagram shows briefly how money gets from you to an entrepreneur, and back.

1) Lenders like you browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.

2) Kiva’s microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success.

3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.

4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

1. What is microfinance?

“Microfinance is the supply of loans, savings, and other basic financial services to the poor.” (CGAP)

As the financial services of microfinance usually involve small amounts of money – small loans, small savings etc. – the term “microfinance” helps to differentiate these services from those which formal banks provide.

Why are they small? Someone who doesn’t have a lot of money isn’t likely to want to take out a $5,000 loan, or be able to open a savings account with an opening balance of $1,000. Hence – “micro”.

With so many new and exciting emerging social sites it?s really hard to avoid this new trend of global networking. With more and more businesses pushing for an online presence it?s becoming easier for entrepreneurs to network with someone a thousand miles away. We?ve talked to many entrepreneurs in different parts of the world and find that more than half of their contacts are people in other countries. Why is this? It?s quite simple actually, think about it, you have an import export business and you want to do business overseas. The only problem is, you don?t have the funds to make it overseas to start making connects. So you go back to the drawing board, put you up some tweets,a myspace page or even a youtube video about what you?re trying to do. And there you have it, in the next couple of days you get some responses to your posts and you start building from there.

Now one thing is true, networking online isn?t always the safest route. With the World Wide Web being open to anyone, no discrimination, you do have your people who are out to scam. So the safest way we find is to first get to know the person, ask many questions, and once you feel comfortable and you two are compatible then make your move from there. If you?re able, you can meet the person to further your relationship.

Global Networking is a good strategy primarily for people who do business strictly online. This way there are no real risks involved. You may have a blog site and want to increase your readership, so you start networking with other bloggers and build relationships with them, who in essence help build your readership by referring your posts to their readers. Or you have an online clothing store and want to expose your line, so you create a myspace page and start to request friends who you send to your online store. Once there they see what you have to offer and they can refer your line to their networks.It can go on and on, but you get the idea.

As anentrepreneur you have to keep an open mind to all the limitless possibilities of spreading your concept, vision, company, image, etc. The doors are open it?s just up to you rather you?re ready to enter or not.

So I had talked to a good friend of mines the other day and he had some really exciting news to share with me. My friend owns a mobile barber and beauty supply business in Atlanta (first of its kind) that he started about 3-4 months ago. Before I moved I remember going out with him as he went to acquaint himself with the different barber/hair salons, to try to build a rapport with the people. I remember how hard it had been, because in the hair industry you’re only as good as your record, so if you’re not consistent pretty much you’re guaranteed to stay small (or non existent for that matter).
But one thing he keep doing was going out and showing his face, even when they told him they were not interested. He stayed consistent. He keep his mind focused on what he wanted to do and where he wanted to see his business.
So like I said he called me the other day, very excited. He told me that he went out and meet a guy who was opening multiple barber/hair studios in the Atlanta area. He presented to him what products he offered and the service that came along with them. The guy told him that he was interested but to give him some time to think it over and get back to him. To make a long story short, the guy ended up calling my friend about 4-5 days later and told him that he liked the product and wanted to supply his barbershops with them, he wanted a case (12 pack) of each product.
So my friend ended up making around a $2000 sale in a matter of days. This helped boost his enthusiasm and showed him that as long as he stayed true to what he loved everything else would follow. And being an entrepreneur and a friend, I showed the same happiness for him and I see much more success in the future for his business.
So the moral of the story is, being an entrepreneur isn’t always going to show you the better sides when you want to see them. It takes that consistency, motivation, willingness to push when you’re not seeing results, and most of all the ability to see where you want to be in the future.

If at all interested, my friend has a product called Imperial Touch which is the best razor bump solution out on the market. He’s supplied by a mentor of mines. My mentor started his skin care business a little over 10 years ago and gave my friend the exclusive rights to supply the product. I actually had the chance to interview my mentor and I’ll have that posted in the next couple of days. But if you have a problem with razor bumps give my friend a shoot and he can have some of the product sent out to you. You can reach him by emailing him @ terryamm@gmail.com.

As we always say, as an entrepreneur one of the most important things to do is network. Networking is going to give you what you need to build your organization, contacts, leads, etc. Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. just announced the Affiliate Convention taking place June 17-20 in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center. This Affiliate Convention is a business conference and expo event on affiliate marketing and advertising methods.

“North American affiliate managers have requested higher affiliate attendance at events in order to justify a return on their investment. In addition to the numerous super-affiliates that attend events the company runs, making the event free for affiliates to attend was offered in an effort to attract higher levels of new affiliates and meet the needs ot the affiliate networks.

With over 60% of the pre-registered attendance being affiliates, the Affiliate Convention will have the highest percentage of affiliates attending a North American affiliate marketing conference.

The company has thoroughly reviewed the data collected from affiliates attending and is able to reveal the following facts:

46% of the affiliates promote Diet Health and Beauty Products

75% of the affiliates promote via Pay Per Click, Blogging, Viral Marketing, SEO and email marketing.

40% of affiliates Promote to Foreign (Non-North American) Markets

35% of the affiliates promote Financial Related Products

30% of the affiliates promote Dating Websites

25% of the affiliates promote Travel

10% of the affiliates promote to the Spanish speaking market.

More charts and graphs on affiliate attendance can be found on the Affiliate Convention website.

With speaker sessions designed for advanced affiliates, Affiliate Convention is staged as the home for affiliates.

Denver was selected for the event for numerous economical advantages. For several airlines, Denver is a major hub and airfares are generally less expensive than other locations. Host hotels are also reasonably priced with 4 star, 4 diamond hotels costing less than $150/night. In addition, numerous affiliates are based in the Denver area.

The company successfully offered economically attractive options to affiliates that have never attended conferences. As a result of high affiliate attendance pre-registered for the event, Affiliate Convention should provide a relatively easy ROI for affiliate programs sponsoring or attending. Affiliate Convention now offers to the affiliate manager a new standard when considering sponsoring or attending future affiliate marketing events.

For more information, please visit the website Affiliate Convention or contact: Ticonderoga Ventures, Inc. Tel: USA +1 (212) 722-1744 ext 79 Fax: USA +1 (208) 728-6456 E-mail: info-16 (at) affiliateconvention (dot) com” (Taken from the press release)

So what a better time for entrepreneurial affiliates to be making their way down to the Colorado Convention Center, especially when it’s free. This may be a chance to get the inside scope on what it takes to take your affiliate programs to the next level as well as meet some really cool people at the same time.

Remember, “Choices not circumstances determines one’s success.” You have the opportunity to make a choice that could literally alter your business.

What’s Really Important?

“Listen to your heart and believe in your ability to create a happy, meaningful life regardless of outside factors or pressures imposed upon you by the needs and wishes of others.”

What is it that’s important to me in life that will give me the sense of fulfillment? That’s the question I ask myself everyday to keep me alert and which keeps my passions in focus. All too often we let outside distractions detour us away from our dreams to the point that we actually forgot what was important to us. In order to regain what’s really important to us in life we must take control of our life and what we want for ourselves once and for all. Stop making excuses, stop thinking about what you can’t do and start focusing on what you can do. This is the advice that I got from someone very successful, and what do you think got them where they are today. It sure wasn’t crying and complaining about things outside of their control.

The same person that told me to stop making excuses also told me something that I would never forget and that was, what you focus on in life grows. If you focus on how badly you’re struggling what’s going to happen, you’ll keep struggling. Why, you ask. Think about it, instead of focusing of the solution to your problem(s), you focus on the problem(s) itself/themselves, which in cause boggles your mind and distracts it from finding a solution to you problem(s). You must believe in who you are and what you’re capable of producing. Do this by building a solid personal foundation and exhibit a strong confidence in your strengths, skills and uniqueness.

I hate to be the one to tell you but the fact of the matter is, just because you want something badly, simply want be enough. You must develop the skill of being honest with yourself. Do you really have the talent, the skills, the patience, the drive, and the personality to be what you want to be in life, to do what’s really important to you? Do you have what it really takes? Can you take what you all ready posses and seize the opportunity before it’s too late? The only way to really answer the question, “what’s really important,” you must be in tune with yourself and know who you are, not what people perceive you to be or hope for you to be.

Value who you are and what you want. And act like there’s no limit to what you can achieve… And take responsibility and accountability for yourself in achieving your dreams… And stay focused on your goals in order to achieve them… And remember other people’s expectations for you do not have to become your reality.

Once you’ve evaluated your personal worth, strengths, and weaknesses, it’s time to define and refine what’s important to you in life. While in this process I have to go back to what I stated in the introduction; remember the choices and decisions we make are in direct correspondence with the position we are in now. So if you wish you could be in a different position move your butt and make better choices to put you there. Nobody’s going to hand us the golden opportunity or take our hand and walk us along, it’s up to us and our determination. Are you willing to fight when you are up against a wall; are you willing to sacrifice your time from your family, friends, and yourself in order to position yourself in a better and more fulfilled life? Guess what… Successful people, people who live their passions, people who really enjoy their lives, were willing to do all it took to achieve fulfillment.

Realize no dream is impossible if you just dare to live it. You must live your life and not someone else’s. And so raises the question. What’s really important? Is realizing your dreams and creating a better lifestyle, more important. I had to learn that just because people had certain standards for my life, didn’t mean that I had to uphold them. I’ll give you the perfect example; my grandmother, who I believe means good for me, always said that I would be the next doctor in the family. I believed I was actually going to be the next doctor in the family because I didn’t want to let my grandmother down. But it came a time in my life that I figured why am I going to go through life living a lie. I knew deep down that the medical field wasn’t going to make me happy, but it sure in hell was going to make my grandmother happy. But I had to make a decision, was it my happiness or my grandmothers that was important. It really came down to the question, whose life is this. From there I had to follow my heart and truly discover what it was that I felt would fulfill me.

Never give up on tapping into the gifts and talents you’ve been given. These qualities will be your light as you open the doors to inestimable possibilities of your life. Stay focused on who you are and what’s really important to you in life. This is your movie set and you hold the star role so keep moving and become the superstar in your theater of life.

Times can become very difficult, but what helps me along is staying motivated about the endless possibilities that life has to offer. While we’re here on this subject let me pass along a little piece of advice I’ve learned. Are you ready? Ok, pay close and closer attention. Don’t be adamant in telling people what’s important to you in life, because sometimes what’s important to you can become someone else’s derision of the day. People are not always so responsive, in a positive way, to new unexplored territory. I take the saying to heart, birds of a feather flock together. So I make it my method to keep with likeminded people.

Keep your mind open and your visions in focus and you’re bound to find what’s really important to you in life. Don’t stop short of your goals, make it your routine to reinforce the possibilities of life into your self-conscious and live the life you deserve where you want when you want.

Life is a continuous learning experience, but if you deny yourself the opportunity to advance, you’ll cut yourself short of many amazing new things. Sometimes the only complacency I have is within me. I mean, when it all boils down, I’m the only one who really understands what’s important to me and how I want to go about achieving it. People are going to have their opinion, that doesn’t necessitate the position I have to take.

Here’s a beautiful quote from Anatole France:

He says, “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.” Dreams are what produce actions and believing is what brings about results. You must truly believe in your dreams and the rest will manifest itself.

So starting today let us find what’s really important to us (whether it’s vacationing year round, spending quality time with loved ones, or being in business for ourselves) and make the change to align our present with our dreams and visions.