Do you have a partner?

[Opal]

I've considered working with a partner? I have a friend trying to start a photography business on his own. We have discussed me taking more control of the business and communication side while he just takes his pictures. Do you think it's a good idea to have a partner in a freelance business?

[twisted99]

Working with a partner can be a great situation or it can be a nightmare. The difficult part is knowing which result you'll end up with before making a commitment. I think these situations often work best when you have complementary skills to add to the partnership and you're both hard workers.

I remember working with a partner years ago. That situation didn't work out too well, and I ended up leaving the partnership after a few months when I realized I was contributing the great majority of the time and effort to our little company and he was more or less just along for the easy ride.

From the sound of it, you might have a situation that could possibly work. He focuses on the creative and you focus on the business side of the business. Do you get along well with each other?

[freebird]

A partner can be a good thing or a bad thing. If you are serious about it make sure its someone you trust fully, when you get into business with a friend or family member keep in mind that from the start you should note that business is business and personal is personal.

[internetlot]

I think its better to have workers rather then having partners as it can increase your profits and there is less risk of disputes in the company.

[MaxM]

Do you think it's a good idea to have a partner in a freelance business?

I think it depends a lot on your personality and of course the personality of the potential partner you're considering. I've worked freelance on my own and I've worked with partners over the years. They both have their pros and cons.

The one advantage I wanted to point out about working with a partner (not the only advantage of course, but the one I want to mention) is the opportunity it gives to have a sounding board. Studies have shown that crowd decisions are often better decisions than individual ones. When I've worked with a partner that I got along with well I really liked bouncing ideas off him, and I think we made better decisions as a company because of it.

Now if you partner with someone that doesn't get into spit balling ideas like you do (assuming you do of course), then it's probably not the right fit.

There are quite a few thing to consider when making this decision, but I thought it important to point out this particular advantage to working with a business partner.

[onlinerewardz]

well for me i would say that it is good to work with a partner just like the popular saying goes that two good head are better than one.When working with a partner that has sense you can share ideas on how best to work on the project to have the most effective result.But like i said work with somebody who is sensible

[Tomas]

Partners? Where do I start? Over the years I've had partners, and I've also done ventures on my own. When it came to the partnerships, some of them worked out really well while others didn't. Looking back on the times when things didn't work out so well I realize that it almost always came down to personality conflicts. It also had a lot to do with their personal styles of doing business.

There was one partnership where I was assigned to marketing and business development, and my partner handled the delivery of our core service. we started out strong. In the first month I think we landed three or four new clients, one of which was quite large. However, we had a very difficult time keeping clients. I'm not sure if any project was ever delivered on time or on budget, and well over 50% of the clients complained about the quality of our work. I discussed this with my partner. I felt strongly that we needed to improve the quality of our service. He disagreed with me and felt we just needed to get more clients. Obviously this partnership did not work out.

This may sound strange, but I wonder if it might not be a good idea to take personality tests before entering into a partnership? Or at least discussing general business philosophies. Today I'm much more reluctant to enter into business partnerships, but I also know that they can be very rewarding and successful if you partner with the right individual.

[Dave]

I have considered working with a partner, mainly my brother, but he wasn't interested in the work to be honest. I personally like working alone anyways. I seem to get my work done faster and I don't have to answer questions and help people out.

But I may consider it more in the future.

[Nine2Five]

Working with a partner can be great, but when it comes to working online, I prefer to work alone. Actually I decided to work online as a freelancer because I like to work alone, having neither a boss nor employees.

[Get2work]

I do not currently have a partner, and to be honest I have never really considered it. I like being on my own and responsible for my own success or failure without having to depend on someone else.