| Q: |
What help does my business need to achieve its strategic objectives? |
| A: |
Money, access to markets, expertise, community support, etc. |
| Q: |
What must my ideal partner offer me and what would be nice if my ideal partner to offer me? |
| A: |
What is a business imperative and what is not? |
| Q: |
What is the profile of my ideal partner and will I be able to find someone with this profile? |
| A: |
Is it a well connected individual, a community group, my staff, or a combination of these?
Do you know people or companies that fit this profile or not? Can it have done similar deals with companies in the same sector as you? Are you prepared to consider a group that has not done such a transaction before? |
| Q: |
Does my potential partner(s) have a similar approach to the things that matter to me in my business and in my life? |
| A: |
Will we be able to work together or is it going to be a stressful experience? Can we share a common purpose about what we want to achieve with the business? Do we share the same set of values? Will we be able to have the difficult conversations when things go wrong in an open and honest manner? |
| Q: |
What is my potential partner expecting from me? |
| A: |
What level of performance is my potential partner expecting from my company? Is my potential partner expecting significant wealth creation in the short term? Does my potential partner require access to cash flows from the business to finance the transaction? |
| Q: |
Is the structure of the transaction going to ensure that you and your potential partner get what you want from the relationship? |
| A: |
Is what I am offering fairly valued and priced? Can my potential partner afford the deal? Will the structure of the deal ensure that the deal is sustainable or is it setting it up for a fall? |
| Q: |
How will you be able to ensure that what you though was going to happen prior to the deal does in fact happen? |
| A: |
Are there ways to monitor and report on what each of us is bringing to the deal? How will we manage our relationship as business partners after the deal? What happens if one of us does not live up to what we promised? |
| Q: |
What happens thereafter? |
| A: |
Can my partner acquire a bigger share in my business later, and if so, when? What happens if I get a good offer for my business later or want to retire? What happens if my partner wants to sell? What happens if we can’t get along? |
