BrainFuel

“There’s no limit to what a man can achieve, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit.” – Laing Burns, Jr.

When people decide to partner up on the work they do, there are a few fundamental things that everybody considers deal breakers.

These apply whether you’re going into business as a partnership, or you have in mind to collaborate on just a single project.

1. The desire to have a say
2. Ownership at some level in what they make
3. Having your own name on the door
4. Not putting in 90% of the effort and only making 50% of the money (participation)

The last one is key. In collaborative projects, if anybody feels like they’re putting in more effort than the other person and not going to be rewarded for it (financially) it spells disaster.

If one person is spending 90% of his holiday weekend working on client projects, and the other person is unaware of this fact, then it causes the first person to wonder why they should bother. Resentment builds up over time, and so in partnerships it is very important to frequently check with the person you work with to make sure you are on good terms.

A final note on partnerships: I’ve seen some situations where people are brought on for their ability to do grunt labor, and get things done (programmers, designers, etc.). You’ll want to make sure that these people don’t feel like they’re doing all of the work, and none of the benefits.

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