10. Acknowledgment of Good Work
Don’t ever take each other for granted. If one partner does something good or valuable for the business, it must be appreciated. Acknowledging or appreciating motivates the individual. Motivation is a human need. We should not forget that our partners are human beings, too.
11. Collective Major Decisions
All decisions which may have significant impact on the business’ direction or its future must be taken together. E.g. decisions related to major investments, major expenses, important recruitments, transfers, contracts, policies etc. must be taken collectively.
Actually, the partners must agree upon the types of decisions which will be taken individually or collectively and follow that practice.
12. The Right Agreement
It may sound awkward in the initial days of the business to put every verbal agreement on paper, but that is the right thing to do. Initially, the size of the business is small, the trust levels are high, all partners have enough time to interact and share and there is high degree of enthusiasm and optimism. But, as the business grows, things start getting complex. When the financial level goes up, many things which were left unsaid in the beginning, start becoming significant. If the business’ assets or valuation goes higher, expectations also may rise higher. Similarly, if the business goes downwards and the liabilities or debts increase more than anticipated, the disputes may start. It is human tendency to seek more benefits and avoid liabilities. To safeguard against any such undesirable outcome in the future, it is advisable that every financial aspect be properly clarified in the form of an agreement among the partners. Such a clear agreement may be helpful in the event of some sudden emergency situations also. No important agreement among the partners must be left undocumented. Put everything on paper. It helps to be clear, to avoid misunderstandings and problems later.
Any wise and mature partner must not shy away from getting all the important terms and conditions in an agreement. It should not be treated as a mutual distrust. On the contrary, it is the ultimate manifestation of trust because you are being just and fair and not leaving anything to chance or misinterpretation later.
13. Common Mission, Values and Vision
The details about Mission, Values and Vision are explained in the chapter on Business Leadership.
The mission is the purpose of the business. There must not be any difference of opinion about the mission among the partners. Values are the guiding principles on the basis of which a lot of business decisions should be taken. The partners must be completely aligned to these values. The same applies to the vision, the near future goal that the company is trying to focus its energy on.
These three define the direction in which the business will go. If the partners differ on these, the business may lose its direction and that may prove to be disastrous for the business. In fact, the partners must collectively finalize the mission, values and vision of the business, to ensure their consensus and alignment on the same.
(Expert advice to GROW your business wherever you are, whenever you want.
SMEBusinessGuide.com… https://goo.gl/E3pfoQ)
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