Business Partners – Can you survive without them?
by Catherine Connor
One of the greatest challenges we all face is the challenge of setting up in business and the pressures that accompany it. Running a business is not for the faint hearted, it is not for those who want an easy life. For those in business I am not telling you anything that you don’t already know. So why do we do it? Because we love what we do, photography and all it unfolds, the clients, the buzz and the business journey.
The combined aspects of being in business with your partner, friend or associate can require a great deal of consideration and planning. I have recently designed a seminar called 'Business Partners'. The motivation behind the seminar was years spent listening to how photographers and those in business negotiated with their loved ones who were also their business partners.
Annabel Williams and I are now entering into our thirteenth year in business and during that period we have both learnt so much about each other, how we tick and how we work best together. An advantage for me at the outset was that I had an exact idea of the way in which I wanted to run the business. I wanted it to feel like a business, function like a business and behave like a business on every scale. Coming from a corporate background taught me a lot and gave me a lot of experience. If I could offer advice to all those reading this article, it would be to set your stall out right. Compromise over the right things and be the ultimate professional at all times. Leave your emotions at home and remember that you are in business and how you function in the business will have a huge impact on its success.
Training over 4,000 photographers to launch businesses of their own has given me a real insight into human behaviour. We are all passionate about different things and find our motivation in different forms. Working productively and being happy in your work place is a goal we all strive for. The key to working as a team is to identify your motivations and those of your partner.
Managing yourself effectively is what everyone in business needs to consider in order to perfect their management of others. Perfecting your management and leadership approach requires a lifetime of commitment. A good education prior to going into business can be a fundamental help, but by no means the answer in its entirety. There is much guidance that I want to share with all reading this article. If you attend the business workshops at the SWPP 2009 convention you can expect even more and be enlightened further.
Never go into business blind with others. It is a giant step which should be carefully considered. Know what you want to achieve as a grown-up about to take a trip of a lifetime. It can be lonely when in business as a solo and it can be very, very crowded when in business with the wrong personality, for both you and your motivation. Motivation is not an endless stream. It will be tested, challenged and questioned, and that is why it is so vital to get it right from the beginning. Spend a great deal of time during the first stages of business defining your roles, positions and responsibilities. Many who go through this cycle together will embark on a process called ‘forming and storming’ at the same time. ‘Forming and Storming’ often happen at the beginning of any relationship and are a place for debate and understanding. They can be very positive for all, leading to heightened awareness of how to be and how to play the business game with others in order to reach the next two phases, ‘norming and performing’, as quickly as possible and without too much pain.
Taking your partnership to a place of productivity is crucial as the business will always be short of time, space and energy. Partners in business should deliver double the amount of energy but if this energy is wasted or directed in the wrong way the business and all within it will suffer. Ask yourself how much energy you have wasted over recent weeks, months and in some cases, years. Many whom I have trained tell me that they wish they had gained a better insight into effective working practices earlier as all have been too unproductive. Some have been treading water for so long that they have forgotten how to behave or function in the business.
There are a few easy answers and there are a few approaches that are far more long term to introduce to reach a much better position when in business together. If you are in business with another think about in which areas you have differing opinions. Is it the service you deliver, money concerns, operations or photography generally? Isolate the problem areas and think about why you disagree here, not who is right or wrong. One of the greatest challenges we face is our passion for the business. Being passionate has real advantages but it also has disadvantages too, as passion can trigger a fiery reaction to a situation which requires calm and a level head.
Think about how you function in the business, about your working style and day-today practices. If someone were to describe you and your business management, what would they say? How are you helping the business and how are you damaging the business? These are hard questions to ask and certainly very difficult questions to address if in partnership with a loved one, as the personal relationship and all of the emotion that accompanies it can often confuse the situation. If I had a pound for every time the husband or wife of a business partnership said to me, “I have told them they should do this or that a thousand times. You tell them and all of a sudden not only is it a great idea, they actually do it too”, I would be a very wealthy lady! In fact this very week a woman in a seminar of mine told me that as she sat listening to me she realised that I was reiterating a suggestion that her husband had made to her previously. She noted that she loved hearing it from me and was inspired to make changes and act upon my words but if her husband had mentioned the same thing one more time she was in danger of killing him! This is such a common eventuality in business partnerships. So why listen to an outsider but not a loved one? Not for me to answer today…
Having a business partner works but the relationship needs managing, nurturing and some objective advice/education can often assist with both, nothing happens by chance. All that I do in the business is planned as far as possible and I approach my training in the same way. When you set out to work each day it is essential to know what you need to achieve and how you are going to achieve it that day, that week and that year. Clarity in the business comes with knowing what your partner and, indeed, those who are employed by you need to achieve. Recognising and having an understanding of the workload of others in your company alongside what type of team you have, enables all of you to work together more effectively.
If as you read this, you don’t know what your partner is doing or has to do this week, you have problems. Deep down, hand on heart, you will know if this is the case. As a director in your organisation you should always have a clear idea of what is happening in your business. If you don’t, don’t embark on another year in the same way. It will have a direct and detrimental effect on all that you aim to achieve and the speed at which you do so. If, however, you know you are in a great place, protect it, nurture your relationship and always dedicate time to it. Invest in having meetings once a week, catching up with your partner regularly, allow time and space for creativity, and play as this can have amazing results with regard to team cohesion.
Annabel and I meet every week and always have a few full days together each winter to talk, share ideas and brainstorm which we call our research period. We go somewhere really nice like a fabulous city and explore, identify new trends, have great experiences and bring all of this inspiration back into the business. We enjoy this time as we have no agenda. Taking this time out is hard but it is time well invested. We always gain something; a new service, approach or style idea for the studio, at the very least one definite visible benefit.
When you run a busy business that is driven at speed and has great ambition you can easily lose sight of how important thinking time is. It is so easy to forget each other, as generally the most important person in your business world is the client, secondly the team and lastly yourself. Taking time to solidify the bond with your business partner and re-realise what you do and why you do it together is an education that translates into and re-energises the business. Think about yourself and your business partner and the positive impact that it would have on your relationship and business if you stopped the clock and came up to the lakes to spend time developing your partnership. I can tell you that it would be huge, more than either of you can probably appreciate at this moment.
Whatever approach you take to this I can promise you will be in better shape for it and so will the business. We all need support, guidance and education, and sometimes it is too overwhelming to try to achieve all of this on your own especially where old habits may be hindering.
An additional tip that I would like to share is that of change. Try something new. If you do not you are in danger of rolling out the same products and services every year and becoming outdated. Change gives your business the chance to discover a better way. At the end and start of every year I think about the partnership, what needs enhancing, what needs protecting and what needs to change and would advise anyone in business to do the same? Be the boss, be in control, take no nonsense and you will make a difference to your happiness and success.
Ask yourself this: are you performing on behalf of the business effectively and if so are you both reaping the rewards? So many in a business partnership feel the advantage and the strain all at the same time. And here is the thing – it doesn’t have to be painful! In fact it can be a wonderful experience sharing a business as I have discovered personally. Over the years Annabel and I have gained so much from working as a team. I realised a long time ago that being a business super–hero can be a very difficult position to maintain! If you don’t feel that you have the abilities to undertake a task as a solo, ask for help. Tapping into new energy can make all the difference. One of the biggest skills you can master as a business partner is to recognise when you do not or should not have all the answers, where your strengths lie and those of your partners. The key to a successful partnership is to divide your roles based on these strengths.
If you have reached the end of this article and feel that you are making all of the right moves, all credit to you. By the same token, if you have reached the end of this article and know that you need support, all credit to you. If you would like to discuss the best type of support available for your particular circumstances do come and chat to me and/or the CPT team at the SWPP Convention business school or trade event. If you are unable to do either, contact Annabel Williams Contemporary Photographic Training to find out how you can gain further guidance. One little conversation could change your world dramatically for the better. Nothing has to stay the same.
"Make a difference every day.” Catherine Connor
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