Many people in our Bravo Tango community wish to start a business of their own. They want something that is theirs, that will travel with their husband’s careers and be something that they can be proud of. They find a friend that wants the same thing and they decide to partner.
They want to find their own ” Bravo Tango”!
Having a business partner sounds like a match made in heaven right? You are not solely responsible for everything and you have someone to bounce ideas of of. This is all true — however there are some things to be careful of.
Becky and I ran our own businesses for several years before coming together to create Bravo Tango Tees. For years, we strove to carve out meaningful careers for ourselves between moves, deployments and babies – Becky as a graphic designer and Tammy as a social media consultant/Blog Designer. Then one day our paths crossed through a mutual client and the in
spiration flew. We knew what we wanted and what we were missing.
Do your research
But starting and growing a business with a business partner takes more than finding inspiration. You need to ask yourself (and your potential business partner) a few questions. This is the first step. You must do this before any start-up process, market research and paperwork is started. On top of asking these questions, do you own research. It is extremely important to trust your business partner but you also need to know any potential issues as well.
- Do I really want to share the business with my partner?
- What is their offline and online reputation ?
- What is their paying history with their previous clients/customers?
Get it in writing
Make sure any process, project and/or contacts are signed and all parties are aware of the requirement, expectations and expenses involved. If you are partnering with someone, you will want to draft a Business Partnership agreement.
- Who is doing what when it comes to running the business ?
- What investment in the business will each of your make ? (this includes time and effort, not just financial )
- What will each partner bring to the business ? (in terms of experience and knowledge)
- Is there a “opt-out” clause? What does that process look like ?
Communication is key!
In order to run a successful business where the owners aren’t even based in the same state, Becky and I talk a lot. Whether through email, Skype or phone calls.. it’s important to keep the other involved and up to date. We also have regular phone meetings to discuss issues that arises, brainstorm new ideas, etc. We also have an open-door policy with our team and everyone is kept in the loop.
How do you do that?
One of the main things that helps us run Bravo Tango as efficiently as we do is we are open , honest and everyone is on the same page. Our marketing calendar is available to both of us and our interns as well as any of our staff. We try to make everything that we say and do as transparent and authentic as possible whether internally or externally.
Some of the resources we use
Save Everything
Save any pertinent emails, chat messages,etc. that you may need down the road to prove your point. We certainly don’t like to think about this but let’s face it .. Business is business. At the end of the day , you’re a business owner and you need to make sure you protect yourself, your investment and your business.
About Tammy
