I’ve had lots of partners over the last 25 years, and it has been quite an experience. Read on for my partnership experience, my partner gut check and a bonus story about the time I was offered suitcases of cash.
My Partnership Experience:
My history with Partners has helped me grow in many ways. I’ve been able to learn from my partners’ experiences and knowledge. My risk has been mitigated, and my rewards have been great. My personal growth has been challenged by being pushed out of my comfort zone. I’ve experienced various partnership models including Joint Ventures, Corporations, Shareholder Agreements. It took me some time to learn the proper attitude to bring to the table. In short, partnering has made me a better person.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the startup phase of different types of businesses:
- Ecommerce
- Interactive Television
- Online Gaming
- Online Payments
- Residential Real Estate
- Commercial Real Estate
- Ninja Warrior Gym
I have also been pitched on many different businesses, and I must admit I say “no” to most of them. It is just simply impossible to participate in every opportunity that comes.
Most of my Real Estate Investments have been with partners. In fact, many of them have been too big to complete by myself; I’ve absolutely needed to combine my partners’ cash with my own as the down payment for the property. I’m always humbled by the trust and grateful for all of the benefits I received.
As a working partner, I typically raise capital for larger projects which I run for my partners who stay passive. My favourite part here is sending dividends. I enjoy the confidence people put in me, but it is also a great responsibility. I appreciate being able to call my partners and “bounce ideas” off of them. The teamwork and camaraderie is a great part of my life. We are growing, learning, and building companies together, all while providing a stable financial future for our families. Isn’t that starting to scratch the surface of the meaning of life? Or, at the very least, my purpose? I find this very fulfilling.
When I am the advisory or cash partner, the nature of my work is more passive. I am consulted on major decisions whereby I get to draw from from my experiences. It is very rewarding to have a front row seat to the growth of entrepreneurs. Some of them are younger and I can really help them avoid mistakes, set priorities, and find shortcuts. Of course I enjoy receiving dividend checks and exiting with a good profit. I’ve managed to find very good partners in this regard and it has been a privilege.
Going solo (no partners) has been a different experience. It showed me how to rely only on myself and how to be confident of my decisions. It is quite liberating, which I find refreshing. I like the feeling of my own accountability, and full control. Probably most important is the bravery and resilience that I discovered in myself.
I’ve had wonderful partners. I’ve had terrible partners. What I really have come to understand is that I am not really in the Engineering business, nor the Real Estate Business, nor the Fitness Business; I am in the partner-picking business. I’m happy to say that all of my current partners are great.
Partner Gut Check
It has taken me many failures and successes to learn how to figure out if someone would be a good partner for me. Before I decide to do any due diligence, or even if they are offering me capital, I have to answer yes to all 7 basic questions. This is my gut check. It is very much based on gut feeling, and if the answer to any of these is “No”, it will be very difficult to convince myself to partner with that person. If the answer is “yes” to all of these questions, then the real due diligence starts, which I may cover in a future post.
Here are my Gut Check Questions:
- Are our values aligned (integrity, honesty, etc)?
- Are our goals aligned?
- Do I like and respect this person?
- Does the person bring skills to the business?
- Does this person fit with me and the other partners?
- Will this person react appropriately when things do not go well?
- Does my gut instinct approve?
It is always a a great discovery to find someone who passes all 7.
Bonus Story: Turning Down Easy Money
I was offered “easy money” by a new prospective partner. I met with him for coffee at Starbucks. He was very nice, knowledgeable, and actually quite smart. I guess as the coffee sunk into his system he talked more and more, while I listened. I spoke of a recent bad experience where someone owed me money, and how I was dealing with it in small claims court. He offered to take care of the problem for me, outside of court, to show how good of a partner he would be with me. Later in the conversation, he asked me if I would be willing to buy lots of real estate with suitcases full of cash for many years to come, and asked me what percentage I would charge to do this.
It dawned on me that a squeaky clean individual like me could be very useful to people who need money laundered. (Watch the Netflix show Ozark. Highly recommended!). So, I was faced with the temptation of a stream of “easy money”, but I gently turned down the offer because our values were simply not aligned, and my gut instinct was that I would end up in a place I never wanted to be. The other lesson I learned is to pre-screen candidates before accepting any meeting.
To this day, I do not regret taking this shortcut to the next financial level.
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