Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/460894
Create your free business website! www.ascpskincare.com 13 Ask about your partner's vision of how decisions and disagreements should be handled. For example, to save money, our partners Thelma and Louise decide to paint the spa's interior themselves. What happens if one partner doesn't show up or gets seriously ill? Who will be the primary partner to make decisions? Many questions need to be asked before you go any further. Script a Business Pre-Nup Determine who is going to do which tasks and write it down. Communication between partners is imperative. It is also important to write down how much money each person will invest. Write down goals and expectations for marketing, management, and production, and have a written plan to monitor progress. Writing down all of the questions and answers serves three purposes: planning, protection, and record keeping. It allows you to encounter and solve many potential problems before they can jeopardize your company or destroy your friendship. Once you get going, continue to plan on paper. Having a record of all your goals, policies, and procedures protects the company and partners. If worst comes to worst—if the partnership fails and the separation process is contested—your written records will protect you by refl ecting exactly who did what. While this may all sound ominous and time-consuming, it is much more costly in both time and dollars if you need written records later and don't have them. Be assured, no one will agree on what was said six months ago, let alone years ago. 10 Tips for Combining Resources A partnership is a great way to combine resources. Keep in mind that your business partners are your practice's greatest assets, so choose them wisely and don't take them—or yourself—for granted. You'll probably have to work at your partnership as much as you do at your business. Licensed esthetician and industry expert Douglas Preston offers these 10 tips for a successful business partnership with a friend: Defi ne each person's role and responsibilities carefully. Failure to do this always leads to stress and resentment later on. Know each person's strengths. Work should be assigned to the partner who can best perform it, not simply shared. Defi ne the meaning of "profi t" well in advance of opening up a shop. Your compensation will depend on this. Find a good, unbiased fi nancial adviser and listen to her or him. Never enter a partnership because you think it's going to be fun. It's going to be hard, demanding work. Promise to keep spouses and other family members out of the business circle. Their involvement easily leads to confl ict and heartbreak. Decide how much time either partner should devote to the business and where that work is to be done. When one partner claims to be "working at home or off-site" the one in the shop inevitably feels like she is shouldering the larger burden. Have a buyout agreement in place before you sign your agreement. Don't open without a substantial pile of backup funding to help you stay afl oat should your sales projections prove overly optimistic. Never live with your business partner. If you can avoid going into a business partnership with a friend, do so. Be aware that, realistically, such partnerships are very diffi cult.