Archives for February 3, 2020

10 Detrimental Mistakes To Avoid When Starting A Business In A Crowded Marketplace

February 3, 2020 by Dan Lok

Have you been making these mistakes when you’re starting a business? It can be overwhelmed in a crowded marketplace. What are the mistakes you can avoid?

Here are 10 detrimental mistakes to avoid when starting a business in a crowded marketplace

The truth is… everyone makes mistakes and it’s obvious that it’s no different for business owners.

Unless your mistakes can turn into huge advantages in your business and life – avoid it when you’re starting a business.

There are many common mistakes and it’s natural getting a little tripped up here and there. But some of these common mistakes are detrimental when you’re starting a business.

It means, it can become costly down the line.

So, it’s better to avoid them at the beginning itself.

With effective planning, you can avoid typical stumbling blocks that may potentially lead to failure.

Starting a business is not a consequence of good genes or being lucky. It can be engineered by following the right methods and strategies – it can be taught.

A crowded marketplace can be overwhelmed, and you’ll sometimes get overconfident with enthusiasm. However, enthusiasm can be both a blessing and a curse when you’re starting a business.

Why? That’s because it drives the passion for your business that can fuel your success – and financially ruin you if don’t think through your decisions.

Here’s a video I want to share with you. About what I learned and some costly mistakes you can avoid.

I’ve started and failed in 13 businesses – lost thousands and millions of dollars. If you don’t navigate those potholes. You’ll most likely won’t see success.

If I could turn back time, I’d do things differently…

10 Detrimental Mistakes To Avoid When Starting A Business

No Goals And Commitment
Avoid Micromanaging When Starting A Business – Delegate
No Understanding Of Marketplace
Not Having The Right Mindset
Technology Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
Starting A Business Without A Plan
Neglect Marketing Investment
Accidentally Create Leverage
Spending Lavishly
Hiring the wrong people

No Goals And Commitment

When you’re aiming in the dark – you can’t hit a target that you can’t see. You’re going to miss 99% of your target.

It’s the same with everything we do in life. Without a clear goal, you won’t have any motivation to improve your business continuously. You drift along and taking things as they come – hoping for the best.

And because you’re not putting in the time, energy and focus into growing your business, eventually it’ll fail.

When starting a business, set a clear goal and commit to making things happen. With that said, be very specific with your goals – not being a generalist.

Instead of saying “I will improve next quarter’s revenue”, say “ I will increase sales by at least 20% each month until the next quarter”.

When you be specific about where you want to go from the beginning, you’ve created a much clearer image in your mind of how to achieve your goals.

On another note, observe your motivation. Because this can lead to emotional baggage and this baggage slows us down and hinders our growth.

Not only you’re going to miss most of your target. What’s worse is you’re also stuck in this vicious cycle of emotional baggage.

Or maybe the regrets you have will demotivate you to achieve your goals.

Avoid Micromanaging When Starting A Business- Delegate

Delegating is a powerful tool when starting a business. But you must know when to spend your money before you create your high-performance team.

There’s sometimes a lack of self-awareness when starting a business. Some business owners in the early stage are not great at delegating work to their team members.

So, if you’re not good at certain things, avoid doing everything just because you want to cut costs.

Focused on your strength in specific work tasks and delegate the rest will help in the long run.

While most employees don’t appreciate being micromanaged – as a business owner, when stating a business – curb this behavior before it leads to negative effects.

Here are some pointers on how to let go:

Reflect on your behavior. Most likely it’s because of some insecurity – if your team doesn’t perform exactly the way you wanted – you’re afraid it’ll reflect badly on you.
Prioritize what matters and what doesn’t. Regardless of how important the task is – you can’t do that if you want to control everything. Avoid being a control freak. Create a To-Do list and start determining what work is critical and delegate those that are less important. For example, strategic planning vs presentation.
Talk to your team. Once you’ve determined the importance – the next step is communication. Have a conversation with your team about what really matters to you and how you want to be kept in the loop.
Built trust. Have a pep talk with your team members. Because they’re used to you not trusting them, they might come to you for approval on each and every project. So, give your team members the psychological power to lead. Show them you trust and have faith in their abilities.

Editorial Credit: Stephane Bidouze / Shutterstock.com

No Understanding Of Marketplace

Most Entrepreneurs are an expert in their own product or services. When we talk about the marketplace – it can be billions and billions of people but with your product – will the majority pay for your product or service?

Exactly – NO! Not everyone will pay. So how exactly can you understand the marketplace or at least understand your market?

That means If you have a certain product or service, where and what types of customers will pay for it.

When you understand your marketplace or customers – not only it’ll increase your sales, but also increase your chances of attracting the kind of customers you want Click To Tweet

Do you see what I mean?

And sometimes, you come out with a new product or service. With that said, testing your product is critical to your success or failure – your product-market fit can be tested in small ways.

Why do you need to test it?

Because a product that works for you may not work for others.

So, by testing it in smaller ways can help you save time and money. At the same time, you are generating feedback and answers to your growth success.

Only then, you will understand your marketplace and customers better.

Maybe you need to modify and fine-tune your product according to your feedback…

Or perhaps, you need to remove some funky and complicated product or service that initially you thought it was cool to combine – but not in the eyes of the marketplace.

So, when starting a business… and to avoid these detrimental mistakes.

You need to make sure what works best for your clients. And this is one of the main factors most online entrepreneur/s fail to succeed

Watch this video on how to choose your niche and target market.

Not Having The Right Mindset

Do you have confidence in yourself? Or confidence in your product or service…

Don’t expect customers to show up at your doorstep or website to buy from you.

You need to put yourself out there by branding your business, marketing your offers and networking.

I know many brilliant business owners with exceptional product or service – but lacking in confidence.

You see, starting a business is no easy task…

You need to have the right mindset even before you start a business. If you’re lacking confidence, you need to learn how to be more confident.

So, what do I mean by not having the right mindset?

Is it the level of confidence or having a combination of mindset which includes leveraging your money mindset to create more money?

When we portray confidence in anything we do... that’s a positive mindset Click To Tweet

It’ll constantly motivate you towards success. And leveraging money mindset is like, instead of having a saving mindset and trying to salvage every dollar – focus on making more money with your money.

Now, does that make sense?

When you’re starting a business, think of how you can use your mind to create wealth – use the money you currently have to help you generate more money.

With that said… doesn’t mean that you need to spend every single penny on marketing or product development.

Plan according to your goals and commitment and then take massive action Click To Tweet

Develop a millionaire’s mindset and be a “Doer” instead of a “Talker”. Most unsuccessful people like to talk about things and tend to have a lot of opinions.

They dwell and complain about their struggles and problems.

So, if you’re reading this article right now…

I know you are a “Doer”. You want to avoid mistakes when starting a business.

You want to achieve your goals and generate results.

Technology Ignorance Isn’t Bliss

The digital landscape is rapidly growing and constantly evolving. As a business owner, if you don’t leverage the current technology in your business, you’re considered as laid back.

If you’re a young entrepreneur just starting a business…

Here’s a question you might be asking; How can I use technology in my business?

Simple!

I spoke about micromanagement earlier, about delegating certain things and avoid doing everything by yourself.

You see, tasks like data entry, posting updates and generating leads on your website can be delegated and those are all the things that can be done with technology.

It’ll save you hours on trivial tasks if you know how to leverage it. This useful tool gives you the time and freedom to attend to more important matters in your business.

If you don’t want your competitors to run you out of business – find the time to learn how to leverage technology Click To Tweet

Now, this is where the mindset comes in…

If you’ve been a stubborn business owner and refuse to learn, you’ll most likely lose out to your competitors and more likely to see failure instead of success.

Don’t adopt the old school traditional mindset, it’s one of the deadliest mistakes business owners make – especially if you’re starting a business.

Starting A Business Without A Plan

A business plan is your roadmap to success!

Although it could evolve as you go along. But when you’re starting a business – a proper business plan leads you on the course with a structured approach.

You can document your business thoughts and ideas you want and need to accomplish. And then, formulate a strategy and tactics for how you plan to get there.

Successful Start-up entrepreneurs are often those who have strategies in placed to deal with challenges as they occur Click To Tweet

While being flexible and adaptable to the changes in today’s marketplace – you can’t sidestep planning if want to succeed.

While the mindset plays the biggest role in our life – exercising self-control to avoid these mistakes when starting a business – doesn’t mean you need to re-consider your whole idea of having your own business.

The thing about having your own business is, it requires both patience and passion.

This may sound troublesome to some business owners. But my point is…

If you could avoid these detrimental mistakes with proven strategies, wouldn’t you make use of that opportunity?

Neglect Marketing Investment

If you have a mindset of, “I’m already doing well, I don’t need to invest in any marketing” but you expect to increase your revenue…

You’re most likely won’t be successful forever.

Most business owners who are already successful have this mindset.

You see, the thing is…

You’re going to slowly lag if you’re aren’t bringing in new business – especially from today’s competitive marketplace.

In one of my recent articles, I spoke about “The Future Of Marketing Automation” and in one of the sections in that article, customers want a more satisfying journey when they are searching for a particular product or service.

To survive and thrive in the future of marketing – you don’t want to neglect marketing investment when you’re starting a business Click To Tweet

On top of that, people are talking about customer experience (CX). Research from PWC said, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for GREATER customer experience.

So, if you neglect your marketing investment – you’re likely to lose out a lot.

Now, as you already know, in this new decade, we’re all moving towards “Digital”. And with all the variety of technology tools available, you can always start with some free marketing tools to help you grow.

By doing that, you can maximize your return on investment (ROI).

So, don’t neglect it – thinking you’re already successful and don’t need any investment in your marketing.

Accidentally Create Leverage

Who owns your company’s intellectual property (IP)? This includes the brand name, designs, domains, and technology. Ensuring vital IP owned by the company is critical.

Because, in the event of a dispute between two partners, and If one partner owns the domain names personally – this means he or she has not assigned the right to any intellectual property.

Now, what does this mean when someone has not assigned any IP rights?

It means, they can leverage in any negotiation.

Here’s the thing I don’t want you to miss…

When registering domain names and assets in the name of the company – it’s straightforward.

But… when it comes to Intellectual creation, you need to understand the most important point.

For example, when an employee of your company creates a logo, it means, it’s owned and assigned by the company.

However, if it’s being created by a freelancer – it needs to be assigned in writing.

Now, you don’t actually need to engage a lawyer to do this. There are plenty of standard intellectual property documents online where you can get your team to prepare.

This might be one of the biggest mistakes for young entrepreneurs.

That’s why it’s crucial to know what are the mistakes to avoid when starting a business.

Spending Lavishly

Your first-quarter sales were good – business is going well. Second-quarter was even better and now you have some extra cash to splurge.

Typically, most of us would make a few purchases to help with future scaling.

Investing in new software, doubling your ad spend, redesigned a new company logo, or maybe a small renovation for the office.

What happens if the following month, your projected revenue isn’t as much as what you’d expect?

All of a sudden – you find yourself in debt.

You’ve spent too much money too soon on unnecessary things. And these things can turn your business profits into additional business expenses.

On top of that, you are not in a position to utilize them yet.

So, before you spend lavishly on unnecessary things, ask yourself this: “ Is this important and going to be used immediately to grow your business?”

And by asking yourself certain questions, not only it helps you avoid crucial mistakes, but to also make a decision to achieve your goals faster.

Hiring The Wrong People

Hiring the wrong people is like having a bad team. If you select the wrong people to be on board, not only you’ve made a mistake. But also closer to failure than you know it.

When you have the wrong people on your team, it harms your business reputation Click To Tweet

Before you hire anyone – think about what that person is like. If it’s possible, find out about their goals, beliefs, and mindset. This is crucial because it has to be aligned with your vision and mission.

Let’s take a salesperson for an example. Many companies hire salespeople because they want to generate more revenue. However, a salesperson, they only look at their own income and sales quota.

They don’t care about things like integrity and morals…

With that said, at the beginning of their career, they might bring in more sales but subsequent months, their sales get lower and lower.

This is because most salespeople are not properly trained. Instead of building a long-term relationship with your customers – they resort to being a slimy salesperson with pushy tactics.

As a result, you’ll only get a “one-time purchase” from your customers. What’s worse?

You spend years generating and nurturing leads…

And because you hire the wrong people, your customers lose trust in the company and they go to your competitors.

So, to see success faster, create a high-performance team that’s aligned with your goals.

Want To Scale Your Coaching Business?

So, is it time to scale your business? – Especially for coaches and consultants.

As your business grows – knowing when to hire, when to automate the tedious process, strategizing techniques and tactics effectively is crucial when starting a business.

I said this in the beginning – you can avoid typical stumbling blocks that may potentially lead to failure.

I’ve started and failed 13 businesses – I have seen startup companies moving too fast without proper planning and crumbled before they can achieve their goals…

The thing is, all this can be avoided.

Why would you create a new success strategy when there are already several proven strategies?

Discover the method and strategies that you can use to scale your coaching business online.

You see, I knew little to nothing about starting a business. This was when I was younger. I was heavily in debt and failed 13 businesses.

Today, you can discover the method I used to scale my coaching business from zero to $1,000,000 a month in less than 8 months…

Now you must be thinking what did I do to achieve that?

Well, it’s by doing the opposite of every other coach! Get your resources here and maximize your “Personal Media Platform”.

Call To Action

If you want to avoid these mistakes, subscribe to my private mailing list and get your personal copy of videos and guide on how you can use our system and strategies to grow your coaching business too. You’ll also get my free eBook and you’ll never miss any valuable life hacks.

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5 Crucial Things To Look For Before You Invest In Startups

February 3, 2020 by Dan Lok

Are you looking to invest in startups but you aren’t sure what to look for? How do you determine if a startup is a good investment idea? How do you know it’s the right thing for you?

When you want to invest in startups there are plenty to choose from. Almost all startups need money. That’s why it looks like a promising investment sector too many.

It seems so easy, find a startup. Invest your money. Watch them grow and multiply your money. But, in reality, it isn’t quite that easy.

Not every startup will be the next Uber. Not every startup succeeds and grows rapidly. Often it’s hard to tell if their product and offer are any good.

That’s a problem because if you are investing in a startup you want to make sure it pays off. You want to get returns on your investment sooner or later. Investing in the wrong startup can be a risk.

And there are also other factors you have to consider before you put your money into anything. So before you go ahead and invests your money into a startup, check for these 5 crucial things first.

1. Is There A Hungry Market for Their Product?

Before you invest in startups you want to make sure there is an actual market for their product or service.

Let’s imagine you can choose between startups. One has an advantage in capital, on has the best product or service, another one has the best team. Or maybe they have the perfect timing or the latest technology. Which one would you choose?

If I would invest in a startup I would always choose one thing: A hungry market. I would choose that every. single. time. Click To Tweet

Their product or service might change, but a hungry market will always buy from them.

So many startups fail because they focus so much on their product or service. But they completely forget about their customers. They focus more on their own needs than on the needs of the marketplace.

They put all this effort into building the perfect product…that nobody wants. Instead of their product, look at their offer. What is the irresistible offer that they bring to the marketplace?

An offer contains their product plus the value. If the perceived value is high enough people will want to by. You can imagine the offer almost like a bait. Like if you go fishing, you want to choose the right bait. So the fish would actually bite. Using a stone as a bait won’t do you any good. You have to understand what they want.

Why Is The Market So Important?

So many startups make one mistake. They offer what they think the market wants. Instead of finding out what the market actually wants.

You only want to invest in startups that actually have an irresistible offer of some kind. It should be more than a crazy idea in their mind.

Save yourself from investing in startups that spend years on things that nobody wants to buy. As sad as it is, that happens too often. 8 out of 10 businesses fail after 20 years. Half a million businesses are created every month. 30% of those go out of business within two years.

What to Look for in a Market?

You also want to check how big the market is before you invest in startups.

Is it a very local market only in the direct neighborhood? Or is the market the whole world?

Don’t get me wrong the market doesn’t have to be huge for them to be successful. But it has to be some good size so they can expand later. Simply put, is the market big enough so their offer is scalable? What are the chances of this offer getting bought now and also in the future?

And finally, when it comes to invest in startups, there is one more thing about the market. How saturated is it? Are they targeting an existing market with lots of competition? Or a completely new one?

What if their chosen market is very competitive? Do they have a defining factor that makes them different? How is their solution different from existing ones and is there a market that needs that? There is also the question of how powerful their competition is.

I once had a guy tell me he wants to start a coffee company and compete with Starbucks. How can a small startup compete with a huge chain?

Of course, the founders are very passionate about their ideas. But you have to stay cool and check if their business actually makes sense.

What to do if you invest in startups that market to a completely new market? You have to make very educated guesses if it is possible. Will the market be big enough? Is the crowd hungry for this?

2. Do They Have Some Money Already?

When you invest in startups, you don’t want them to fully rely on only your money.

If they can only start out because of your investment, that’s actually very dangerous. If they need your money so urgently, the founders aren’t entrepreneurs yet.

Making money from business takes time and effort. If they expect to find one single investor (you) and suddenly make all the money…they don’t understand what it means to have a business.

Building up a successful business needs time, effort and money. You don’t create a startup because you want to work less and hate your job. If you do that, your business will fail.

That’s why I advise all my students to take care of their cash flow needs first. First, they need a stable income. Only then they should even think about becoming an entrepreneur.

So, if you want to invest in startups what out. Pick those that have a great work ethic and are resourceful enough to generate money – before they are looking for investors.

There is nothing wrong with looking for investors, but it can’t be their income stream.

How resourceful are they?

Their resourcefulness to getting money shows you what they are willing to do in order to succeed. Do they tilt because an idea didn’t work? Or are they looking for solutions and create results?

Believe it or not, there are startup founders that only want to put their money in after the startup has reached in size. They don’t have any skin in the game. Rather, they try to build their business and get wealthy by a miracle.

They have this idea and think it will make them rich. But a business without money is just an idea…it’s not even a startup.

So don’t get swooned owner by fancy looking business plan and market analysis. Those are great things to have but if there is no starting capital, how will they succeed?

I’m very careful about such things. You don’t want them to run off with your money. You want to invest in startups that are resourceful enough to have some money already. Your investment might help them to get more scale.

Being resourceful also means they don’t lose hope after hearing no several times. They have the stamina to go on because they know there is a demand for their product or service.

3. Are Their Team Members Complementing Each Other?

The next crucial thing you want to look for before you invest in a startup is their team.

Before the investment, you will likely get in contact with the founders of the startup. You will discuss the strategy, business plan and other things.

But I highly advise you to also have a look at their team. Who else is working on the startup? What skills do they bring to the table? And, likely most important, how do the founders lead their team?

Are their skills working together? Do the founders mentor the teammates? Do they really have successful chemistry?

All these are pointers to look out for. The team is an important metric to measure the success of a startup.

But, you only want to look at this, after you’ve checked the market! Again, the best team in the world won’t help, if there is no hungry market for the product.

If they have the market and a great team, those are good signs to invest in startups.

Some startups have quite small teams because they are saving on costs this way. But they absolutely need people in all the key positions, so the whole business can actually run.

What Does a Great Team Look Like?

Their team has to be able to execute. Too many founders try to get everything done themselves and give no trust to their team. Instead of delegating they work tons of hours to get everything done.

When really, all their team members should be experts in their field and get the job done themselves. They should also have some operating systems in place already. That shows they are serious about this business. Do the founders have the vision while the team is taking big parts in executing that vision?

Another very important thing: don’t invest in startups that don’t have an expert on their niche on their team. Let’s say the startup is a lead generation agency. But nobody on the team ever worked with lead generation. All they do is guessing how it works…How likely will that team succeed?

A well-built team should have the skills that the founders lack. They are balancing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. You don’t want to invest in a startup where all team members have the same skills. It means they have huge weaknesses too.

4. Did They Create Results Already?

This is another great point to look into before you invest in startups. Did they already get in contact with their market somehow?

Are the customers already engaging in with the product? Maybe there were some test runs and the testers are giving feedback. Or maybe the founders did a survey of what customers expect a certain product to do.

Looking at this shows you how serious the founders are. Do they just have ideas or are they willing to execute? Are they still working on the basic concept or are they already developing tangible results?

Are they committed to making this happen and work out for them? Or is it just an idea and if it doesn’t work they jump onto the next idea?

If you get in contact with them and they want to win you over as an investor,

watch out if they can present any real data. Does the data support their idea? These early calculations are a great proof of concept.

So what does a promising startup look like? They have a hungry market and some data collected already. If they have the data but the market is non-existent or too small you don’t want to put your money there.

When it comes to data, also make sure that their measuring is actually realistic. Some startups run into the trap of measuring too much. Or the use numbers too early. While data is important, it’s not the only factor that determines their success (and as a result the success of your investment).

How do Others React to their Idea?

A great way to see if the startup’s offer creates the desired results is this:

Show it to strangers on the street and see their reaction.

If they say “ok, yeah that’s good” then the idea actually isn’t good! You want them to go “wow this is great, where do I buy.”

If the offer can’t win over people, it won’t stand a chance in the marketplace.

4. Are You Actually Ready?

The final thing you want to consider before you invest in startups is a little bit different.

It’s less about the startup, the founders, the product or even the market…

It is about you. Are you actually ready to invest in startups?

To invest in startups might sound like a good idea but it’s only one investment type of many, many more. So, ask yourself why you want to invest in startups. Click To Tweet

Are you actually passionate about startups? Are you an expert on the field? Or did you just hear about other people who successfully invested in startups? Are you looking for a quick way to get rich?

The problem with that is that, if you suddenly jump into investments without knowing anything about it, you are taking huge risks.

You risk making a mistake and losing all your hard-earned money. I’m not saying investments are a bad thing…I’m saying investment without knowledge is not a very smart thing to do.

See, wealthy people, invest in what they understand. And they have their ways of checking and evaluating if an investment is a good idea.

If you don’t know how to successfully invest in startups – and only do it because it worked for others – reading a few blog posts about it won’t help you much. So what should you do?

How To Prepare Yourself for Any Investment

Before you invest in startups – or do any other investment really – you want to do a few things.

First, you can’t invest if your daily cash flow needs aren’t met. Meaning, if you don’t have enough money to pay your bills, you aren’t in a position to go out there and start investing. Raise your income first (have a look hat I teach about high-income skills).

Now you want to be in a position where you can invest at least a few hundred bucks. And lastly, really understand which investment type suits for you. What do you really like? Is it really startups? Or stocks, or real estate?

I personally love two types of investments. Investing in myself and real estate. Why? Because I understand it. I would never advise anyone to invest in something they don’t understand.

What if I told you there is a chance to learn the investment strategies of the rich?

My fans and students kept asking me about investments. When to do it, how to do it right and so on. Exactly for that reason, I’m offering a once in a lifetime event. What is it about? It’s called “Secrets Of The Rich” and it will take place from February 23rd to 24th.

The rich have these crazy strategies that give them stable returns – sometimes up to 24%. Those investments are low-risk and high-return. But you can’t find it in any book and it’s not taught at seminars. At least until now.

The event is really a once in a lifetime chance. It’s unlikely that it will ever be repeated. If you want to educate yourself on investing as the rich do, this is your chance.

Unfortunately, the event is now sold out. But I have a special offer for you. You can get lifestream access that comes with a full recording too. This way you can learn the investment strategies of the rich, even if you missed out on the seats.

Check out the details HERE.

How To Get Out Of A Bad Business Partnership

February 3, 2020 by Dan Lok Leave a Comment

Feeling trapped by your business partner and looking for a way out? Learning how to get out of a bad business partnership can be difficult, especially when legally binding documents such as contracts are involved.

There’s no worse feeling than being stuck in a business contract with a bad business partner. At that point you’ll be dying to know how to get out of a bad business partnership.

At first, everything was going smoothly. You were on the same page, you had the same goals and it made sense for you to become business partners. But as time went on, small cracks began to appear. First it was a few emails that they didn’t reply to. Then it was an important business decision made without your approval. And slowly but surely, those cracks began getting larger and larger.

Now, it’s gotten to the point where you two are on completely different tangents, and you don’t know what to do. You feel like they are holding you and the business back. Perhaps it’s finally time for you to part ways with them and go on separate paths. If you’re wondering how to get out of a bad business partnership, let’s discuss a few tips to help you do so:

How a Bad Business Partner Creates Resentment and Kills Business Potential

Imagine that you are a tiger on an isolated mountaintop. You have not eaten for three days, and you are starving. But a few moments later, you see a nice looking deer that is within range of you. You begin stalking towards it slowly, careful not to make any noise to alert the deer of your presence.

As you get closer and closer, you realize there is another tiger on the opposite side of the mountain that is doing the same thing. That tiger is also slowly making their way towards the deer – your deer.

That tiger poses as a direct threat towards what was supposed to be your food source. Now you have a decision to make – you can either walk away and try to find another deer that isn’t contested, or charge towards the deer and hope you get to it before the other tiger does. But even if you manage to reach the deer first, you still run the risk of having to fight off the tiger in a bloody battle in order to claim your spoils.

The tigers represent you and your business partner, and the deer represents the business. In a fruitful business relationship, this does not happen. Both tigers would be looking to work together in order to capture the deer. They would split the food amongst themselves. That way, both of them can eat and neither one starves.

In a bad business partnership, you and your partner will end up fighting each other in order to gain control of the business. Even if you do reach the deer in time, you will have to put up a fight in order to keep it. And this struggle continues until one of you gives up and can’t fight any longer.

When a Prosperous Business Partnership Suddenly Turns Sour

Not surprisingly, most business partnerships do not work out. Statistics show that 70% of business partnerships ultimately end up in failure. More often than not, most business partnerships are between spouses or family members, which makes getting out of it even more complicated. This is due to a variety of reasons such as trust issues, lack of communication, and not drawing the line between business and personal life.

If things aren’t working out, you need to examine why. Why did the business partnership go downhill? Is it an issue between you and your partner, or something in the business? Getting clear about where you are coming from can save you a lot of headaches down the road and give you clarity about what exactly is not working out.

For example, if the issue is that you and your partner are incompatible, then there is no choice but to move on. That means either you or your partner has to leave the business, and go your own separate ways. Two tigers cannot share the same mountain, just as two incompatible business partners cannot run the same business.

One Mountain Cannot Contain Two Tigers. - Ancient Chinese Proverb Click To Tweet

The Risks of Starting a Business With a Family Member or a Friend

Starting a business with a trusted family member or friend can seem like a very intriguing idea. However, when it comes to business there is more at stake than simply just losing the business. With business comes money, and money is widely seen as a controversial issue. If you are going to start a business with someone you know, ask yourself if you can handle the worst case scenario.

If for example your business partner is your spouse, you have to make a decision. Do you want to save the business, or do you want to save your marriage? In the situation where neither person wants to back down, making a decision like that is sometimes necessary. Either one of you has to accept that things are only going to get worse, unless someone surrenders. That means letting them take over the business and calling all the shots, whether or not you want them to.

In Dan’s own organization, his wife Jenny is a valuable business partner. However, as much as he values her insight and opinions, at the end of the day his word is final. They have come to an agreement that as chairman of The Dan Lok Organization, his decisions have more weight than anyone else’s. As a result, everyone in my organization understands that even if they think he is wrong, they have to respect and follow his decisions. Because of this rule, it makes it easy for everyone to come to an agreement, and keep our business lives separate from our personal lives.

When Your Business Partner is Strictly Business

If your business partner is your friend or family member, you have to take your relationship into account when making a decision to walk away. However, if your business partner isn’t closely related to you, then it simply comes down to a matter of business.

When you first started out as partners, you most likely had contracts and agreements in place. In most businesses, partners will divide up the company into shares, and allocate an even number of majority shares to each partner. That means you and your business partner could be holding onto 40% of the company, with 20% open to the public. If you want to get out of your business partnership, you will have to sell your shares to your partner. However, if you want to continue running the business and want your partner out of the picture, that means you will have to buy their shares.

Business is all about negotiation. In the scenario where both of you are in agreement – you want to own the company and they want to leave, your partner will state their price and the two of you will negotiate back and forth about how much their shares are worth. Once you’ve reached an agreement, simply sign the documentation, shake hands and you both continue on your way.

The worst case scenario when two business partners aren’t closely related, is that both of them want to run the company and neither is willing to budge. That means either you have to make them an offer they can’t refuse, or you make the decision to walk out.

Making The Difficult Choice Between Leaving The Business or Fighting For Control

If you and your business partner are not aligned – which is the most likely case considering you want to get out of the business partnership, you have to decide. Are you willing to make the sacrifice and leave the business, after you’ve poured in all your energy, time, sweat and money? Or will you stand your ground and stubbornly fight for control – and risk bringing the business down with you?

Fighting for control of the business is a game of chicken. It is like both of you being in two separate cars side by side, racing toward the finish line of bankruptcy. Whoever decides to hit the brakes first before crossing the finish line, loses control. The one who perseveres the longest, becomes the one and only chairman. In the process however, the business will have plummeted in value due to both of you fighting for control instead of managing the business. What’s left over are the scraps of a business you once had, and your job after regaining control will be to rebuild everything you have just lost. It may be a victory, but it will be a bitter one.

The other choice you can make, is to walk away. If you choose to walk away, realize that it doesn’t mean you have lost or given up. It simply means you recognize that fighting for control of the business with someone who is not willing to negotiate is not worth your time and energy. Your time that you would use to try and gain control, is much better used to pursue other more fruitful opportunities that await you. And you never know – in the future your partner may want to sell the business. That gives you an opportunity to buy back the business.

How a Royalty Agreement Allows Both Partners to Remain in Control

In situations where neither partner wants to budge, both parties can still own the business without having to step on each other’s toes.

For example, let’s say your business partner created the product or service and you managed the daily operations. After working together, you realize they aren’t that passionate about continuing to run the business, leaving you to do most of the work. After many heated arguments, your business partner declares they don’t want to give up the ownership or right to their own product. But without it, your business can’t continue functioning.

One way to allow them to remain the rightful owner while you run the daily operations of the business, is with a royalty agreement. A royalty agreement allows the creator of the product to earn royalties for every sale that is made. This way, your business partner can still profit from what was originally theirs, and you can continue running the business the way you want to. Now, instead of having arguments about who rightfully owns the business, you can focus on running and making it grow. It’s a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Always aim to create a win-win situation in business. Click To Tweet

When You Can’t Reach an Agreement, Let Your Employees Make The Decisions

If you and your business partner can’t come to an agreement, the best thing may be to not agree at all. This is where the old saying “Agree to disagree” comes in. In situations where a compromise is not possible, but both partners understand that the business won’t succeed if they continue their arguments, a third party may be the best solution.

Instead of letting the company be run by either partner, you can delegate that task to your employees. Some of the most successful companies today are not run by the owner’s themselves, but by employees acting as the CEO or President. Because they aren’t personally invested in the company as much as the owner’s, they are able to provide a rational perspective and avoid any conflict that would arise from having just one person running the company. That’s why larger companies will have a board of directors, to allow decisions to be made only if there is a majority vote from many members.

By letting a middleman such as hiring a CEO to run the company, you and your partner can still own the business without needing to get involved in the internal affairs and conflict that would arise. Even if you and your partner hate each other’s guts, you won’t feel the same way towards a third party who is making decisions on your behalf.

If you’re struggling to get out of a bad business partnership, the best option may be to substitute yourself with an employee who is willing to take over your role and responsibilities.

Getting Out of a Bad Business Partnership: What’s Next?

Let’s say that despite trying to negotiate and work things out, you think the best thing to do is for you and your business partner to go separate ways. What do you do after that? Should you secretly check up on them every single day and hope that the business will fail without your guidance? Or should you be humble, accept that it’s just business and move on?

In the world of business, nothing is personal. Learning to let go after a setback or negative experience is just as important as learning how to build a business. If you carry around your past with you, it will only negatively affect you in the long run and harm you in any future endeavors you may undertake.

Keep your business life and your personal life separate. Letting your personal emotions cloud your thoughts and affect your judgement means you never really got out of a bad business partnership. You’re still with someone who’s toxic or doesn’t help you grow. And this time, that business partner is someone you won’t ever be able to walk away from: Yourself.

Learn From Your Failures: Don’t Be Haunted By Them

Dan’s executive director Desmond had a similar story. When he was younger, he became business partners with some Australian men that took advantage of him. At that time, he was young and eager and displayed a lot of passion for entrepreneurship. These are the kind of qualities that will get you ahead in life. But unfortunately, these are the same qualities that his business partners would later on take advantage of.

His business partners saw that he was young and eager, and used him for their own personal gain. He ran the company, putting in his time, sweat and energy and in a few years grew it to the million dollar mark. One day when he tried contacting his business partners for an important meeting, he felt something was wrong.

They wouldn’t reply to his phone calls. They wouldn’t reply to his emails. All the ways he previously contacted them before, no longer worked. At that moment, he realized that his usefulness had come to an end. The company was wildly profitable, and so were the owners.

Overnight, his business partners took everything and left him with nothing. He had nothing to show for all his years of hard work, except the tears that were shed as the realization of what had happened dawned on him.

A few years later, Dan would meet Desmond and listen to him tell me this exact story. And unlike his former business partners that sought to use him for their own personal gain and then leave when the time was right, Dan made sure Desmond knew that if they were to become business partners, they would be in it together.

A 4 Step Process To Getting Out of A Bad Business Partnership

If you’re stuck in one and want to know how to get out of a bad business partnership, here’s a 4 step process you can use.

1. Get Clear On What You Want Out Of It

At this point you are clear that you want nothing to do with your business partner any longer. You cannot work alongside them, or you want complete control of the business. The first step is to decide what you want.

Ask yourself what you want to salvage from the partnership. Do you want a cash severance for all the years of work you put into the business? Or do you want your business partner to step down and let you make the decisions? You need to get clear and stay clear on what you want after ending the business partnership. These should be things that are non-negotiable.

When you finally talk to your business partner about ending the partnership, you need to know exactly what you want or you will settle for a compromise. For example, you might want 60% ownership of the company, but after talking to your business partner they might somehow influence you to settle for a million dollar check. In reality you could have forgot that it’s not about the money, it’s about owning and operating a business.

Unless you know exactly what you want, you will waver in your convictions. Get clear on what you want out of the partnership, before you approach them to end it.

2. Look At Your Partnership Agreement And The Business

If you have a partnership agreement from before you two became business partners, review the document and familiarize yourself with what was written.

Look at what belongs to your partner, and what belongs to you. If you both own equal shares in the company and you want to buy them out, you’ll have to determine how much it’ll be worth. If your business is making $10M annually in revenue and your business partner is preventing it from going any higher, it might be worth it to simply buy them out for $4M. While it may be a hefty price to pay, it’ll allow you to grow the business you want to without any limitations.

If you can grow the business so that it brings in $12M the next year and $14M the year after that, you’ve essentially gotten rid of a problem that only costs you 2 years worth of revenue. Analyze how much each decision would cost and then implement it.

3. Create A Legally Binding Agreement For The Breakup

Once you’ve talked to your business partner and negotiated a deal that you both can agree on, it’s time to put it into writing.

Create a legally binding agreement that includes the details for how you two will dissolve the business partnership. The agreement should detail what the terms and conditions include – such as exact sum of money that will be disclosed to either party, the rights each party now holds, and what each party is or is not allowed to do afterwards.

The last thing you want is for them to steal all your insider business secrets and become a competitor. If you want to avoid this, make sure your agreement outlines it in the terms and conditions.

4. Go Your Separate Ways

Once you’ve discussed with your business partner what you each expect and have put it into writing, the last step is to go your own separate ways. You two no longer have anything to do with each other, and can do things the way you like.

Unlike a bad relationship where one partner might have cheated on the other, your former business partner is a professional. Getting out of a bad business partnership is just like becoming partners – it’s a mutual agreement between two parties.

Don’t make the mistake of labeling your former business partner as an enemy or someone to get back at. You are simply two people that weren’t able to make the business relationship work. No one is to blame, and you both can now focus on what it is that matters to you.

Your Failures Only Make You Stronger

Knowing how to get out of a bad business partnership is only the first step towards becoming a success. As a teenager Dan failed at 13 businesses but never gave up despite being $100,000 in debt. Once he discovered that he could earn a high income without needing to rely on starting businesses with other people, his entire world changed. If you want to learn more about the skill of High Ticket Closing, watch the free training series here.