倘若商業伙伴選擇不當，可能會讓你的企業遭遇“滑鐵盧”。

本文最初發表于Entrepreneur.com網站。

在我的多次創業經歷中，曾遇到過好的合作伙伴，也有過糟糕的經歷。其中一次的經歷讓我印象格外深刻。起初，一切進展順利，因為我的合作伙伴擁有豐富的行業知識和廣泛的人際關系。一開始，我們幾乎可以討論一切問題，那時我覺得在我們的努力下，發展前途必定一片光明。當時感覺確實很棒，至少在一段時間內是這樣的。但是后來，我們之間出現了性格方面的沖突，此后，我們的討論變得既無趣又沒有成效。自此以后，我們之間的合作迅速走向了下坡路。

那么，問題到底出在哪里？其實，最大的問題在于我對他還不夠了解。我沒有花時間對他進行盡職調查，而是將重點放在如何利用他的行業知識以及我對產品的了解來開展經營活動，從而讓公司迅速成長并開始盈利。而在此之前，我們并未進行過任何合作，因而我對他的領導風格和價值觀毫不知曉。但是，自我們開始合作共事以后，我發現在對待員工、客戶及金錢方面，他的行事風格與我完全不同。而現在，在與我的客戶合作過程中，我對這一點有了更深的體會。理論上看來一切都很不錯，然而在實踐中，隨著外部環境的變化，個性差異也會凸顯出來，麻煩也會隨之而來。

伙伴關系如婚姻關系一樣，起初都很美好，充滿了愛、玫瑰和夢想，但是伙伴關系可能很快就變成了心碎、憤怒，甚至引起法律訴訟，導致公司破產。

建立合作關系前，請仔細考慮你是否真的需要商業伙伴。若經過認真考慮，你發現你確實需要一位合作伙伴，那么請確認你選擇的伙伴在價值觀、事業目標、領導風格及工作技能方面都與你非常匹配。因為伙伴關系一旦建立，若要拆散它，將會比當初建立時難得多。

為避免糟糕的伙伴關系，請參考以下八條建議。

1.信任。

將信任列于首位是有道理的。判斷你是否信任一個人，底線是你是否愿意向他/她透露你的個人銀行賬戶信息。若答案是否定的，那么對于是否能與其建立伙伴關系，就需要三思而后行了。作為合作伙伴，你為他花費的每一分錢都將影響到你的個人賬本。

2.友誼。

若合作伙伴是你的好朋友，請先確認他/她的目標、價值觀及責任感是否與你的相一致。不要因為你們是好朋友，就做出想當然的判斷。你也需要了解其個人生活及其生活穩定的狀態，因為個人問題有時很難處理，并且極易影響一個人的工作。若你對此產生任何懷疑，那么請勿與之建立伙伴關系。

3.試運行

選擇一位曾經一起共事的人進行合作，例如曾經一起從事過某項非營利活動或共同開展過一些項目。你需要了解他/她是否具有良好的團隊合作精神，以及面臨困境時會作何反應。若你和他/她沒有任何共同工作的經歷，那么在最終確立合作關系之前，試著共事一段時間，以便更加全面地了解對方。

4.合作伙伴、員工及顧問

千萬不要因為雇不起某個人，就轉而與他/她們建立伙伴關系。最好先聘請他/她們做公司的顧問，而非一開始便讓其加入你的公司，而后發現他/她并不是一位好的合作伙伴。

5.優勢互補

確保你和你的合作伙伴有各自擅長的領域，從而實現優勢互補。若你的兩個合作伙伴都擅長銷售，但均不善于運營層面的執行工作，那么這將增加你的工作難度。最好選擇與你優勢互補的人。而要實現盈利，則需要保持一定的平衡。

6.平衡責任

雙方需要事先就在公司承擔的責任達成一致，并遵照執行。若某個人試圖控制并包攬一切，而最后做出的成果卻很少，那么這一伙伴關系便開始面臨解體，并滋生不滿情緒。

7.金錢

如婚姻一樣，金錢在商業伙伴關系中也扮演著重要角色。因此，關于如何運用籌集到的資金以及如何分配利益，在一開始就應當達成一致。

8.評估/合同

一旦有合作伙伴為避免分歧而決定離開公司，那么你就應該為公司價值確定一個準則了。買賣協議對于所有可能性的討論極為有用，且有助于將問題扼殺于萌芽狀態。

為什么說以上幾點如此重要？原因在于，糟糕的伙伴關系可能會摧毀一家偉大的公司，并且讓公司始終無法充分發揮出自身潛力。創業及/或建立合作是一次情感體驗。但在進行盡職調查時，請將你的情感放到一邊，確保所有的一切都得到合理、妥善的安排，從而保證未來團隊的穩定。 （財富中文網）

譯者：司慧杰/汪皓

Because the wrong business partner can sink your business.

This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur.com.

As a serial entrepreneur, I’ve had my share of good and bad business partners. One experience in particular started out pretty good because this person had lots of industry knowledge and connections. We literally could walk into just about any account and the prospect would buy our services. It was great, at least for a while. Then personality conflicts started and it was no longer fun or productive and it quickly went downhill from there.

So what went wrong? The biggest problem was not knowing him very well. Rather than taking the time to do the due diligence on him, the focus was on the chance to grow a company quickly and profitably based on his knowledge of the industry and my knowledge of the product. We had never worked together before so leadership style or values were an unknown. However, once we started working together, it quickly became clear that his way of doing business was totally different in terms of employees, customers and money. I see this a lot when working with clients now. It looks great on paper but issues arise when put into practice and personalities react to various situations.

Just like a marriage that starts off all hearts, roses and dreams, a partnership can quickly turn into heartbreak, anger, lawsuits and bankruptcy.

Before you even think of pulling the trigger with a business partner, contemplate whether you even need one at all. If you decide it is a good idea, make sure you get the best match to your own values, goals, leadership style and skills. Because once you become partners, it is vastly more difficult to undo the partnership than it is to create it.

Following are eight points to consider to avoid a bad partnership.

1. Trust.

This is first on the list for a reason. Bottom line, do you trust this individual with your personal bank account. If the answer is “no,” think twice. As partners, every dollar you spend proportionately affects your personal check book.

2. Friendship.

If the person is a good friend, make sure that their goals, values and responsibilities are aligned to yours. Don’t assume just because you get along as friends that they are. Take a look at their personal life and how stable it is. Personal problems are difficult and can easily complicate their professional life. If there is any doubt, don’t do it.

3. Trial run.

Select a person you have experience with at work, at a nonprofit or on a project. You should know if they are a team player and how they react in difficult situations. If you have no experience with a potential partner at all, do a trial run for a specified period of time before finalizing the partnership.

4. Partner, employee or consultant.

Don’t partner with someone just because you can’t afford to hire them. It is better to hire them as a consultant than to give away a part of your company or to find out later that he/she is not a good partner for you.

5. Varied strengths.

Make sure you and your partner’s strengths are in different areas. If you have two people who are good at sales and no one who is good at executing on an operational level, it will be more challenging than you think. It is much better to bring someone in who will compliment your strengths. In order to grow profitably, keep some balance.

6. Balanced responsibilities.

Both parties need to agree up front what their responsibilities are in the company and stick to them. If one person keeps trying to take over and do everything or ends up doing very little, then the partnership will start to unravel and feelings of resentment will fester.

7. Money.

Just like in marriage, money is always one of the major problems in a business partnership. Therefore, agree in the beginning how you will use the funding you raise and how the profits will be distributed.

8. Valuation/contracts.

Decide on a formula to determine the value of the company should one partner decide to leave to avoid disagreements. Buy/Sell agreements are incredibly useful for discussing all possibilities and how they will be handled before they become a reality.

Why is all of this so important? Because a great business can be severely damaged by a bad partnership and never reach its full potential. Starting a business and/or a partnership is an emotional experience. When doing your due diligence, set your emotions aside and make sure everything lines up and has the potential at staying aligned.