In many ways, business partnerships are very similar to marriages. There is a fundamental difference though. Unlike the already high divorce rate in America (According to divorcerate.org, 50% of all marriages in the US end in divorce), some studies suggest that 60% or more of business partnerships fail within the first 5 years of being in business. With the odds stacked so heavily against partnerships, why are people still considering forming partnerships for business ventures? The answers lie in the benefits of having a business partner.

1.       Complementing Traits – If both partners are good complements to each other the benefits may outweigh the risks of forming an intimate business relationship. A well-chosen partner can complement your weaknesses and improve your strengths.

2.       Built-in Redundancy – What happens to a business if the sole owner has health issues, or wants to take an extended vacation? With a partnership, there is always someone there who can continue managing the business.

3.       Sounding Board – An equity partner in your business generally will provide you better insights than a regular employee. The stakes are higher and as a result, having an equity partner in your business can provide you with invaluable insights and opinions.

4.       Economies of Scale – Two people can achieve more than one. With two or more partners, you can participate in more business building activities than if you are on your own. It looks more impressive to the outside world if a “Managing Partner” shows up at an event, rather than a “Sales Person” or a “Marketing Manager”

What are some of the key issues you need to consider before signing on the dotted line of any partnership agreement, and how can you improve your chances of succeeding in your partnership?

1.       Date before you get married – Don’t rush into a partnership! Make sure you know the personal life of your business partner, as well as his or her financial situation before you decide to partner with the person. In many ways, your business partner will become a second spouse in your life. Make sure you know the person well enough before entering in any agreement with him or her.

2.       Identify Strengths and Weaknesses – Make sure you are picking a good complement to your skill set. There is no need to get a partner with the same strengths and weaknesses as you. You want someone who is strong where you are weak and vice versa.

3.       Explore each other’s values – If one partner’s sole motivation is to make money and the other’s to be a humanitarian, you probably end up having a conflicting relationship. You will find out about each other’s value system during the “dating phase” such as dinners, meeting each other’s families, and participating in each other’s lives.

4.       Identify clear roles and responsibilities – Many partnerships are formed without a clear understanding of who is responsible for what. The result can be chaos and lots of arguments. Identify up front who is doing what in the business based on your strengths and weaknesses.

5.       Ensure equal give and take - Equity in the business needs to be distributed evenly and just. If one partner puts in a lot more money than another, it doesn’t make sense that both will get the same compensation and rewards. Make sure you keep track of the commitment each partner is making and provide for a larger return for the more involved partner.

These are just some of the key issues you need to consider before entering into a partnership. Make sure you are very clear about the risks and rewards of forming a partnership prior to engaging in one. A good business attorney can help you gain clarity in all of these aspects.

Delivering a product or service consistently appears to be one of the hardest things to do in small business. Mastering delivery consistency in your business could very well mean the difference between success and failure for your company. Imagine going to a restaurant and being completely blown away by how friendly the staff is and how delicious the food is. In fact you are so blown away by your experience that you tell all your friends about it. You decide to take several of them to the restaurant, and this time the experience is well below average. What are the chances of you going back to that same restaurant? Slim to None. Think about it, consistency in the food quality and service is very important when it comes to any restaurant visit. The same is true for any other industry. Deliver with consistency and exceed the expectations of your customers, and they will love you and come back for many years. 

There are several easy steps you can take to ensure you product or service is delivered consistently and to the expectation of your customers.

1.       Develop a Project Tracking System – This system clearly provides a step-by-step manual on how to deliver your product or service all the way to delivery completion and follow-up. The system clearly states who is responsible for what and what needs to be done in what order. Make sure all your employees know how to go about delivering your product or service the right way, and don’t assume they will know on their own.

2.       Develop Checklists and Quality Control Systems – Simple checklists can go a long way to ensuring your product gets delivered with consistency. Most successful companies have checklists and other quality control systems in place to make sure products are shipped and services are completed in a consistent manner.

3.       Don’t over promise – Always deliver what you promise. In fact, it is better to under promise and over deliver. Remember, people will always love a positive surprise, but they won’t tolerate a performance that is below their expectations. Nothing can destroy a company faster than an overzealous sales force that overpromises results and experience, and in the end can’t deliver.

4.       Track Customer Satisfaction – The only way to know that you are delivering your product consistently is to monitor customer satisfaction. Develop a questionnaire and follow up with all customers to see if they are having consistently good experiences doing business with you.

Implement these four steps in your business and you are well on your way to becoming a favorite amongst all your clients.

Many businesses face the issue of non-paying or late-paying customers. When it comes to collecting money from past-due accounts nothing holds more true than the old saying “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”. Keep reminding customers about their obligation to pay with consistency and by applying some very simple tools and techniques. You can employ all of these techniques yourself with your own letters or hire third party companies that will help you with your collection process. It is a fact that the more consistent you are on collecting past due bills, the sooner you will get your money, and the higher your chance of collecting a large portion of what is owed to you. Here is a step-by-step approach that will make the entire process simpler and more reliable for you:

Several days before the regular payment is due send out a regular invoice, with the note “Payment due upon receipt”.  This is a regular bill you send out to all of your clients at the time payment is due.

On Day 15, if payment has not been received, you send out a monthly statement, to remind your customers about their account balance. On the first statement at the 15 day mark you want to circle by hand and in red the portion of the bill that you are trying to collect. Research has shown that hand-written notes on bills and statements increase the response rate of clients significantly.

On day 30, follow up on your statement with a phone call or a message, simply asking when you can expect payment on this account, or if the payment has been sent. Depending on how well you know your client, you could even go as far as saying that you are expecting a large bill yourself and are counting on payment from your client to pay your bill.

If the bill still has not been paid after a total of 45 days, it is important to send out another monthly statement. This time you circle the past due amount in red with a note saying “The amount is now past due. Your prompt payment is appreciated.”

After an account is 60 days past due, chances for recovery of your money are starting to drop, but you still have a chance to recoup your money. Start sending out a series of three or four demand letters every 10 days labeled “Demand Letter 1”, “Demand Letter 2”, etc. The demand letter serves as notice to your client that the account will be handed over to a collection agency if it isn’t paid.

If the account remains unpaid after 100 days, you can hand over the collection process to a collection agency or simply move on and cut your losses. The benefit of this approach to collecting debt is that you maintain some level of personal interaction with your client and a chance to salvage the relationship if you so desire.

 Here is a new video. It highlights the importance of delivering products and services with absolute consistency. Exceed your customers' expectations all the time and they will love you! 

The key to successful sales is not just in the development of a step-be-step sales process, but also in the development of some much needed and critical sales tools. There are many different tools you can develop for your sales process. Below is a list of three very commonly used sales tools that will ensure you are selling effectively.

1. Scripts – A script is a Sales Tool you develop to make sure your phone conversations go as planned. Have you ever talked to a prospect on the phone and the conversation was just all over the place, or you felt that you lost control of the conversation and you ended up answering lots of questions? An effective phone script will make sure you guide the conversation in the right direction to help you get the desired results. It will also make sure that your employees handle the phone calls just as effectively as you do. Here are a few tips to make sure your script is as effective as possible:

-      Always ask for permission before you dive into the conversation. Ask “Have I caught you at a good time?”

-      Ask open-ended questions to get your prospects to talk and open up to you. At the same time, try to avoid closed-ended questions. Closed-ended questions are questions your prospect can answer with “yes” or “no.” Open-ended questions are questions your prospect will have to elaborate on.

-      Avoid questions that can derail your phone conversation. Instead, ask questions that will keep you focused on the topic at hand.

-      Have a clear goal for your phone call and write your script with that goal in mind.

-      Write several drafts and practice them with a friend or co-worker.

2. Questionnaires – Not all businesses need questionnaires as part of their sales process. However, in many cases they provide a valuable tool to find out more about the prospect’s needs and wants. A questionnaire serves as a great tool to get the client involved in the sales process and can serve as a mechanism to weed out prospects that are not really serious about conducting business with you.

3. Info Packs – Info Packs are a great way for your business to show off your products and services. They also provide customers with a good amount of background information and may answer a lot of their questions. Info packs can be costly to develop if you are using hard copy material which you send via regular mail. They can, however, also be developed in a more economic way by using e-mail. This will leave less of an impact with clients, but it may save your company from spending too much money on marketing materials. A starter Info Pack could contain the following elements:

-      Background Info on Business and possibly the Owner (Bio Sheet)

-      List of Products and Services

-      Price Lists

-      List of Testimonials from past clients

-      Contact Form

-      Special Offers

Of course, there are many more sales tools available to any sales professional. The list reaches from brochures, DVDs, online programs, all the way to lists of Frequently Asked Question. Evaluate your sales process and try to get a feel for what tools would be most effective with your prospects. Then develop and use them on a regular basis.