The Key to Successful Business? Partnership.

by Amy Stevens AdamscloseAuthor: Amy Stevens Adams Name: Amy Stevens Adams
Email: amy@capecodbranding.com
Site: http://capecodbranding.com
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As John has mentioned previously, partnership has been key for us with Cape Cod Branding. Combined, we are able to achieve more than we would separately, and our success isn’t just two-fold, it’s exponential. We often refer to ourselves as ‘PB & J’. Consider this, alone Peanut Butter is about a 4 on the scale of 1-10, and Jelly is likely a 1 or 2. Put them together and you have a sandwich that’s a 10. It’s the same with us, we’re a 10. Working together, we can accomplish the same as three, four and even five people, simply because we brainstorm so fast and come to conclusions and solutions with amazing speed.

Part of this is because John and I are able to add the ‘missing components’ to each other’s half-formed ideas and come up with something that’s original and amazing. The other part is that we are very similar in character, in that we are always thinking, evolving and learning. We are birds of a feather and we compliment each other well. This is crucial to a working partnership. John and I are both intelligent, ambitious people, but we will both freely admit that alone we don’t accomplish even half of what we can together. It is quite an amazing dynamic. We know that together, success is inevitable and failure is impossible.

When John and I first met, our friendship was strengthened by us both being small business owners; John as a Systems Engineer, and I a Wedding Cake Designer. It was great to have someone else who understood what it’s like in the lonely world of entrepreneurship. We had both come to realize that for business owners, the highs are very high, and the lows are extremely low. It’s great to have a sympathetic ear.

We soon learned that we work extremely well together, compliment each other strongly… and our business partnership was formed.  Prior to meeting John, I felt that the best working environment for me was to be alone. I have always been a ‘loner’ so to speak, and have usually found that others hold me back when I’m wanting to move forward so quickly that they just literally can’t keep up. After meeting John and working with him, I realize that it’s just a matter of finding the right business partner.

In John’s post Snow & the Snowball Part III, he mentions the concept of ‘Marrying Up’. This can be applied to any relationship (marriage, friendship, business partnership, etc). Here’s a recap of the theory; in any relationship it’s important to feel that you’ve found someone who makes you a better person and challenges you to be your best. You need to feel like that person helps you to be the person you truly are and they allow you to shine. This means that your partner (in any sense of the word), builds you up, supports you, gives you credit for your work/ideas, listens to your ideas and energizes you.  You feel like you can get more done with them than without, you work quickly and accomplish daunting tasks with ease, and you compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses. In general, they are perfectly matched with you and together you keep things moving forward.

John compares us to a couple sine waves. When he’s up, I’m down, and vice versa. However, together we balance each other out and pull each other to the stable center.

What to avoid in a business partner?
Stay far away from people who hold you back, belittle you, beat you down, take credit for you work, or try to keep you from succeeding. This is lobster behavior. Lobsters pull each other down, thinking that is the only way to the top of the pile.
Your ideal partner should know that if you light someone else’s candle, yours doesn’t extinguish, quite the opposite, the two flames together make a stronger flame.

You’ll know when you’ve met a good partner, much like people instinctively know when they’re in love. However, if you have any doubts, consider the following;

1. Is your business partner negative and convinced the two of you will fail or do they keep you positive, motivated and focused?
2. Does he/she drain your energy and make you tired and worn out or are you excited and energized to work with them?
3. Are they pushing you down to try to boost themselves up or do they brag about your stellar abilities and how fortunate they are to have a partner like you?
4. Do you trust them?
5. Do you have a gut feeling that they would hurt you for their own gain or do you feel safe and secure that they would never take advantage of you?
6. Are they secretly working with clients/projects, taking your credit or do they relinquish control and allow it to be a true ‘partnership’?

The concept of ‘Marrying Up’ is very important to your success. It should be noted that if you feel you’ve found a business partner that is ‘better’ than you and you’re all giddy thinking that you’ve found someone who will pull you up and make you a better person too, by default….. well, I assure you that they feel the same about you. Marrying Up doesn’t mean that one person in the partnership is better than that other, it is equal. You will both feel like you’ve hit the business-partner-jackpot. I know this first-hand.   It is simply because you both fill in the gaps that the other is missing. It’s a perfect yin & yang situation.  I know with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t be the co-founder of a blog that has had 60,000+ visitors in 10 weeks of existence if it wasn’t for John’s insightful writing, and his ability to keep me motivated on the ‘down’ days. In my eyes, he IS the blog and without him, this would be nothing.

My challenge to you is to find your ‘Jelly’. That person that makes all your ideas come to life. Someone that you eagerly meet every morning and get excited with when you talk about future progress and goals. Make sure it’s someone you’re in sync with and you will be amazed at how your business flourishes. The right partnership can bring you success in a fraction of the time it would take by yourself!

-Amy Stevens Adams of Cape Cod Branding

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