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Consulting Business With A Friend

December 24, 2006

Q- I opened a consulting business 6 months ago with a friend. She takes care of the business side of our firm and I do all of the marketing. We both handle the actual consulting. I am working so much harder than my partner both in terms of client billings for consulting and developing the marketing for our business. How do I let my partner know that I am upset with her and get her to change her behavior and work harder?

Working things out with your partner is important for both your business and for you. A business cannot operate optimally if one partner is not pulling their weight. Additionally, the stress of the situation will begin to affect your emotional and physical health. You just cannot continue to work in an environment where you feel as if your expectations are never met.

My first suggestion is that you have a heart to heart with your partner. See if you cannot work things out. Confrontation of this kind is tough for everyone, but it must be done.

When you are talking with her, it is important that the discussion revolve around issues and not personalities. Dragging personality traits into the encounter is a recipe for disaster. Instead of saying, "Why are you not working harder?" say, "I feel angry when you take time off to care for your daughter." The latter communicates how you feel about her behavior without attacking her person.

If candid discussion fails to yield an acceptable solution, you will have to ask yourself if you want to continue the partnership knowing that the behavior will persist. If you choose to tolerate her behavior, there is no longer a problem as your expectations are now aligned with her behavior. However, if you cannot accept it, you will need to begin extricating yourself from the partnership.

While separating from a partnership is incredibly difficult, it is the only course of action when offending behaviors cannot be changed. Like breaking up a marriage, there is no optimal way to dissolve a partnership, but honesty is always the best policy. Be up front and frank with your partner. Explain that the partnership is not working out for both of you. Avoid blame at all costs and discuss ways that you might work together to remain friends even after severing the partnership. With a consulting business, it is normally easy to separate, but you might need legal assistance to ensure that all the bases are covered.

Partnerships are difficult and, like all relationships, they need to be nurtured and developed. However, once the partnership is no longer viable, the sooner it is terminated, the better.