07.07.2008 — Recently, an owner of a CE Pro 100 member company confided in me that he is looking for a partner -- a right-hand man.

It's not a situation wherein he needs a "white knight" to save the company from financial disaster. Far from it. His company is very profitable and doing quite well in the high-end of the market.

So, why does he want a partner? Think about the advantages of partnerships:

Sharing the Risk

Of course, sharing the risk also means sharing the wealth, but perhaps your company has enough wealth to go around.

If a Tree Falls in the Forest ...

Unless you are total visionary, it's difficult to make decisions in a vacuum.

If you have a great idea (or a really bad one), wouldn't it better to get a critique from a trusted individual before you've invested time and money into it?

You Just Can't Do It All

Maintain your sanity and spend at least a few hours a week with your family.

You are expected to be the chief salesman, chief designer, chief installer, chief accountant, chief manager, chief technologist and chief networker.

There are so many chiefs your title. The only thing missing is a wigwam. It's almost impossible.

Sales vs. Tech vs. Business Management

In almost all cases, you are better at forging relationships (including association participation duties) or understanding technology or running the business. It's very hard to excel at all three.

Which one are you? Analyze your own strengths and weaknesses to determine if your company can benefit from adding a partner. Find people to be specialists in these areas.

Partnerships Throught History

William Proctor and James Gamble forged their relationship because they married sisters. Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck were actually only partners for two years.

Johnson & Johnson was created by three Johnson brothers, each of whom brought strengths to the company in its formative days.

Certainly each one of these iconic American companies faced the ups and downs of internal power struggles -- claims that another wasn't working as hard or disagreements over the direction of the business.

But there is no denying that the companies themselves went on to become capitalist institutions.

I think every custom integrator, at one time or another, has probably considered forming a partnership. And I've noticed, anecdotally, that the custom companies built on partnerships tend to thrive much better than the one-guy-who-does-everything operations.

Plus, integration companies that have three principals seem to be even more successful than duos (those observations are completely circumstantial; I do not have any hard documentation to support or refute those claims).

If you do need a partner (or partners), make sure to find the right one.

Recently, two integrators both independently mentioned to me that they had almost lost their businesses -- one had major surgery while the other was concentrating on a new business direction.

Both guys had the wrong "Number Two" person in place, but didn't know it until it was almost too late.

Right now, finding a partner may be the last thing on your mind, especially when you are caught up in the daily routine. You are not alone.

The odds are that the owner down the street is experiencing the same thing. Start a dialog with him.

You never know, it could turn out like it did for Humphrey Bogart. As he suggested in the final line of the movie "Casablanca," it could be "the beginning of a beautiful friendship."