This is Just Business

I just finished a great meeting with my partners (soon to be official partners).

We're in the process of finalizing the agreement. The goal, in my mind, is to have the "difficult" conversations now so that we don't have to have them later.

What happens if a partner wants out? What happens if a partner gets sick or dies? How do we make sure our families are protected? How do we make sure our other businesses are protected? How do we know we're all going to deliver on our promises? How do we value the work that has been done up until this date? The list goes on...

More importantly, I want to know my partners on a personal level. Who are they? What do they stand for? Where did they come from? What have they learned? I want to know the good, the great, the bad AND the ugly.

Nobody is perfect and nobody has a perfect track record. I sure don't. If you do, perhaps you have not taken enough risks (or you're not telling the truth). That experience is where the true value is. We learn most when we fall hardest. Show me your battle wounds!

This is just business. It's not personal. But business can affect personal if the right conversations are not had at the beginning. Before emotions get involved.