🔑 30 Key Things to Ask Before You Do a Partnership/Collab
Collabs are fun... until they fall apart. A personal failure story. Here's how to approach partnerships with intention and clarity from the get-go. You both deserve it.
Partnerships and collaborations can appear effective and fun, but we don’t often see the messy fallouts, frustrations, and genuine harm that can be done behind the scenes.
And it can all be avoided. Here’s how.
Ten years ago I created a group for women and it gained visualization online quickly. As it launched, I met someone on Instagram who became a friend and she asked if she could support me with the group. She had strong followership and she ran a teeshirt company, and she offered to make merch for my group, free of charge. Excited, I said it would be great to have her support and the teeshirts. I marveled at how fast things were growing.
Then, she started asking to meet weekly to talk about the group. She started talking about all of the hours she was pouring into the project. She began sharing her receipts with me from her purchases (that she donated to the group). She asked if she could do an IG takeover for a week as a contributor [which, IG collabs have since replaced]. She started using language like, “our group.” We language.
It felt icky… but it happened so subtly and I wasn’t sure how to back pedal. I didn’t want to offend her or upset her. I was grateful for the tee shirts and Instagram tags online, but now I had a cofounder that I didn’t agree with and started to dislike (a lot). I was too conflict-avoidant at the time to address it head on, so I just went along with it and didn’t say anything. It became a WE thing.
Before I knew it, we had a book publishing deal on the table as “cofounders.” 50-50 split of all sales. Within weeks of signing the deal, our relationship imploded. She felt my negative vibes, and I resented her. We both got angry. She refused to leave the thing “we built,” and she refused to let me run it on my own after all she invested.
Because we had no legal contract or personal agreements [massive no no], I had some choices: lawyer up (a bit late), close the group completely, or find a way to work together moving forward.
I decided to close the group. We never spoke again.
I still look back ten years later and cringe at the whole situation. I certainly didn’t show up at my best then. I withheld my thoughts and feelings, I allowed discomfort to go underground, I didn’t create agreements of any sort, I blamed her, and I burned a bridge. Today, I would have done things SO differently. But it was a massive learning for me that I remember vividly today. It changed the course of how I engage in my business for the better.
To collab? or not to collab?
Generally, there is an assumption that collabs are a good idea. After all, most social apps out there pitch collaborations and partnerships as a great way to boost business, network, and market. Double viewership, gain new exposure, and double the payoff (hopefully). And I agree, that can happen in some cases.
But even last week, three of my clients discovered that they made regrettable decisions in some business collaborations. They realized they didn’t slow down, ask enough questions, or consider their own boundaries/limits ahead of time. They would have done things differently on the other side. I said, “I’ve been there,” and guided each of them on how to navigate next steps based on what they wanted to do.
To be clear, I am not anti-collaboration. I think if they are done well, they can be incredibly effective and generative. Some of my clients have wowed me with their partnerships.
However, the way in which you go about a partnership is critical to its success. In general, especially when it comes to a formal business engagement, you want to do the following:
Formalize it - write it out, document it, talk about agreements, who-does-what, etc. See my list below.
Legalize it - get it inked with clear terms by an attorney (and hopefully you never need to use it).
Regularly discuss outcomes, satisfaction, and feedback - have dedicated time quarterly to specifically check in on your roles, tasks, growth, outcomes, and experiences. Have agreements about how/when you deliver feedback.
New information = new choices. This is my mantra. We can only work with the information we have in the current moment. So, if a situation or a person starts to show up differently, you can make new decisions based on that.
Now, here is my Dual Ownership Checklist you can reference before you make a partnership.
I created this based on my consulting business to support people in having a point of reference for the things they should be thinking about regarding business partnerships. Not all apply to every situation, but it’s a solid starting point.
Notice what comes up as you read through. Is it overwhelm? Is it excitement? That’s some data for you. Some people have read this and immediately realized a partnership is not for them. Some have seen it as an amazing portal into creating a partnership.
Dual Ownership Checklist
Phase One:
Have you established your collective purpose, mission, vision, your “why”?
Are you both clear on what unique issue you’re solving and why you’re individually uniquely qualified?
Have a business name (and ensured it’s available via domain, trademark, copyright, etc)?
Agreed upon ideas for size, scope, services, fee model, overhead costs, and task management?
Clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and tasks?
What is the start up investment to get the concept/business off the ground? Who is covering that, or will it be 50-50? What’s the repayment agreement?
Phase Two:
Have you discussed how you’ll be formally incorporated (LLC, S Corp, C Corp, Sole Proprietor), and which is most advantageous for your products/services?
Who will own what percentage of the company when you incorporate?
How will money be split?
Is there an equity plan?
How will you handle business banking? [Are you in the same state? Some ownership/employment laws vary by state.]
How will big decisions be made? Agree in advance on how you will resolve conflict or disagreements together.
How will you manage bookkeeping, receipt management, payroll, equity payouts, and taxes?
Have you identified an attorney for reviewing client contracts, creating your omissions and errors, liability, and payment agreements?
Have you obtained business insurance to protect yourselves and your assets? Both will need individual contracts.
Phase Three:
Have you considered and strategized your roll out/ launch plan? Who is doing what? What’s the deliverables and activation dates?
What apps/platforms will you need to ensure a smooth entry to working with clients? Ensure they are appropriate for your work, clients, etc. Check pricing.
Have you established how your initial start up for the business will be funded? And what your financial runway is? When does the business need to be profitable?
Create a business map for budget and timeline, including net profit, taxes, payroll, overhead expenses.
Established how you’ll work with clients for expenses? (ie: if you need to purchase something on their behalf and be reimbursed)
Established a Client Journey/Experience map?
Established a clear and simple onboarding and off-boarding process?
How you will each share about this with your networks and what you’ll each do for brand awareness/client enrollment?
How regularly will you be sharing online? Who will manage this?
How often will you come together to review and revise the company strategy plan and action forward?
Phase Four:
Establish what Weekly/Monthly metrics and data you want to measure: __________
Quarterly strategic meetings should cover: __________
Annual vision and planning should cover: __________
Develop resources, materials, ones sheets, etc
Invest in PR, interviews, and more?
Out of the prompts above, which ones stand out most to you?
I hope this is helpful as you consider future opportunities to partner. Remember: How you start is everything. Then, have regular check ins to assess the viability and agreements in place. If you need to, make new decisions.
If you want to talk about this more for you and your business, you can set up an intro call with me to explore your possibilities head.
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This is such a great guide. I'm sorry the difficult circumstances led you there but, unfortunately we all learn the hard way at least once.