Signs of toxic brand partnership

Why do businesses build or engage in partnerships? Simple, because a combined business has more skills, experience, capital, knowledge and strength.  Combined business has a greater chance of survival and growth. A combined business has a greater chance of attracting investment. 

According to research, the success rates of business partnerships shows that around 80% of strategic alliances fail. But if this is the case, why do businesses still entertain the idea? It is known to any entrepreneurs that running a business includes risks. One of the key risks is failure. Even though things could fail, entering a partnership can still bring a lot of positive learning from it. It is also important to keep in mind that only one-fifth of business partnerships succeed.

A bad business alliance is more common than you think and there are warning flags to see it coming. Listed below are some of the signs that you are in a bad brand partnership.

Unbalanced Responsibilities

As partners, you will be expecting a level of specialization and division of labour. Ideally, this should be based on your strengths and weaknesses and is divided equally. The good business partner would be someone who can cover the areas you are weak in, and whose weakness you can compensate for. Of course, in drafting your list of tasks and responsibilities this list gives you a picture of what contribution you and your partner would be giving. However, if what you’re experiencing right now is different from what it should be, then that marks as a red flag.

Incompatible Values

It’s important to identify values in your partner. Shared values are a foundation to build on. One tip is to think of a business partnership as a marriage commitment where you need to work with your business partner on your shared objectives for an amount of time. Differences in perspective might hamper work relationships and stop you from achieving your goals.

Communication Issues

Lastly, this is the key factor of determining whether a business partnership is healthy. Communication is critical in any relationship and business partnerships are no different. There are various kinds of problems faced in communication and some of it is the frequent lulls in communication. If your partner takes a long time to respond to your emails and calls, it shows a lack of priority for their project with you.

To know more about setting up a business partnership in the United Kingdom, you can read and register it here.