Business & relationships are directly related. We all know relationships are the life jackets of business and no matter the circumstances, a true & genuine relationship will always stand by you and your business.
So, how do you build such long-standing relationships?
- You and your relationship partner must share a similar idea about success. What success means to you, how do you work towards achieving it and similar questions & ideas about success, when discussed with each other, will open Pandora’s box. Dreams, work ethic, discipline, habits, family; everything that is related to success should be spoken about. If you find an alignment with your idea of success within the context of all these factors, you are in for a strong business relationship!
- Clarity about desired outcomes: What you expect from the project and how you are planning to achieve from it should be talked about. Set the record straight right in the beginning else the whole relationship will be based on a flaw. Make sure you are clear about this everywhere, in your contracts, websites, ads, social media etc. subsequent plan of action should be based on this clarity.
- Know your and your partner’s values: Family, religion/spirituality, work-life balance, hobbies, passions, dreams etc make us who we are. Understand your partner’s values to understand your partner wholly. Many times there is a vacuum in the shared value system between two people which then ends the relationship. Value & respect them and their way of life to engage with them and their business fully.
- Embrace the expertise of your partner. If you know you are good with aesthetics & designs and your partner is good with client relationship, find a way where both of you can optimise your business opportunities by both skills. Sometimes partners get too personal with work and want to manage something which they are not that good with; believe & trust your partner and get the best out of him/her for the business.
- Don’t get personal in business: During bad times, don’t be quick to blame your partner or challenge them in any way. Listen, respond and create a healthy dialogue which will help you and your partner gauge the loss, the reasons for it and come out with solutions together in a harmonious manner. The pressures of business can bring out the worst in people, but the trick is to save the business & the relationship without succumbing to them.
In the end, your business relationship, if built on honest & sincere grounds, will hold more value than the business itself. Businesses might fail, but people will always be there beside you!
