Start & Run a Graphic Design Business. Michael Huggins
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scare you out of it. So it’s natural to think about partnering with someone who has a different skill set than you; someone who can complement your lack of knowledge. You start to think about finding someone to help you through the rough spots and to help lighten the load. It’s a totally logical and rational thought.
Partnerships can also form for unhealthy reasons — personal insecurity. If this happens, then the partnership could be bound for eventual failure.
A partnership that stands a better chance of succeeding is one that offers a huge benefit to the client. When two talented professionals combine their skills, the result can often be better than the sum of the parts. It’s called synergy.
A good example of this is a partnership between a designer and a copywriter who have common goals and vision. This partnership brings together two very valuable creative elements that have an overt benefit to the client. By combining their talents they become even stronger and provide a distinct advantage to the client. By combining their skills it sets them apart from most of their other competitors. This is very different from forming a partnership based on insecurity or fear, or because you think the other person has skills that you need to survive.
2. The Problems with Partnerships
Let’s take a look at some of the typical problems of partnering. Then we’ll look at some ways that a partnership can work in your favor.
2.1 Things don’t get simpler — they get complicated
Partnerships are created as a way of simplifying complicated problems and dealing with unknown challenges that could arise when you go it alone. Unfortunately sometimes partnerships create more complexity than they simplify.
Partnerships are founded on the principle of compromise. Any partnership involves managing the expectations of both parties. If you have ever been in a long-term relationship with someone, you know that it’s not an easy thing to do. Think of your partnership like a hard-core marriage contract. You are committing to work alongside someone through thick and thin.
I’ve been married to Anita for more than 23 years (and I love her like crazy), but in our years of marriage I don’t think we have initially agreed on more than maybe 30 or 40 percent of the things that have come into our lives together. We certainly don’t think the same! If I think, “Go left,” you can bet Anita thinks, “Go right.” I’m not confessing a bad marriage here (I have a great marriage — I love you honey!), but all situations have the potential to end in disaster unless we agree to reach some kind of a compromise with the many issues we disagree on. That’s the point. You have to be willing to play the same game if you’re considering a business partnership. That’s exactly what a business partnership is: compromise and an agreement to work things through. The truth of partnerships is that they are constant lessons in the need for clear communication, not to mention downright hard work. Simplicity is often not part of the equation.
2.2 Partnering with friends
Many people understand that partnerships take work and require compromise. They also think an effective solution to the problem is to partner with a friend. After all, when you have someone that you’ve known for years, things should be a little easier, right? You understand your friend. Your friend understands you and you have similar goals. All in all, things should work. Well, unfortunately, being in a business together adds a lot of extra stress and strain to your relationship that you would never have experienced without forming a partnership.
For, as much as partnerships require compromise to survive, they also require leadership. In fact, sometimes someone has to step up and take the lead and sometimes someone has to follow. In friendships “agreeing to disagree” can work because the impact of that decision doesn’t directly affect your welfare and future success, but in your business it’s a different story. Your idea of what you should do in business could be very different from your friend’s idea. Partnerships with friends test loyalties and friendships.
In the Appendixes, you will find my “Interviews with the Pros.” Interview 4 discusses the partnership experience of designer Ken Logue. He has more than 18 years of experience in the design field. He has worked in large and small agencies as an employee, and he has started his own design businesses, both as a solo entrepreneur and in partnerships.
2.3 Measuring responsibilities and talents
Often designers look for a partner who has a different skill set than their own. It could be someone who can handle administration, legal paperwork, or client follow-up, or it may even be someone to handle the money side of things. Whatever it is, designers look for someone with knowledge in an area in which they have little experience or interest.
While this is a good idea, it often makes it difficult to fully outline the roles and responsibilities of each partner. It’s hard to equate your partner’s equal share of work with your equal share of work. It’s also difficult to fully appreciate and agree on the value of each other’s skills. What one partner does may not be as highly valued by the other partner. In fact, it’s not unusual for the designer to feel a little abused over time because he or she seems to be doing all the work, with little or no downtime, while his or her partner appears to be finished his or her work on time and heads home for the evening.
Resentment can also build around the topic of “grunt” work. Grunt work is the “heavy-lifting” part of the business. If one partner feels this type of work is not equally distributed and shared, it can have an adverse effect on the partnership.
2.4 Businesses evolve and change
After taking months to make careful plans for the direction of your company, a new opportunity may present itself and impact your business. A marketplace may dry up and your company is forced in a new direction that was not part of the plan. Or the market might face some drastic changes that greatly affect your business. In all cases you need to be flexible and ready for change. This might change the commitment level for you or your partner. Change itself brings new pressures. Where one individual may thrive in the face of change, another may become discouraged and exhausted.
2.5 Most business owners who have partners warn against it
Consider this: Those who have been in partnerships often advise against it. I’ve spoken to many entrepreneurs from many different businesses and backgrounds (not just design). I’ve yet to find one person who unequivocally endorses going the partner route. Even if they are in a good partnership, they always caution on the commitment, communication, and likemindedness a person needs to make it successful.
3. A Positive Spin on Partnerships
The following story gives you another view on partnerships. This story is from Matthew Rogers, who is the principal owner and founder of Primarily Rye, a creative communications and design firm based in Nashville. Rogers and his partner, Nate Hook, speak very positively about partnerships.
“Our business is founded on the partnering principle. It actually gives us our differentiation in the marketplace. We use the partnership model to attract and inspire those who work with us to work hard to attain partnership status,” says Rogers.
Their firm serves clients all over America and currently focuses on the telecom and securities industries. Hook explains, “Although we focus on a couple of specific markets right now, we won’t limit ourselves to only one particular industry.” Their model is a simple one. Gather people together who have a range of design and business expertise and package them together to deliver a highly creative and profitable product for the end user — the client.
“We try not to turn down any project that requires a creative solution,” says Rogers. “We would rather find a solution to the problem by discovering someone who has an expertise in the area. But we don’t want someone who is a ladder climber or an opportunist. We want people who have total buy-in to the vision of