If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with others. While many entrepreneurs largely startup alone, they get to a point where they don’t just need employees but need great co-founders or partners that would work together with them for the greater goal of the company, which is to reach the vision it has set for itself.
But finding great co-founders can be a problem because if you don’t get it right, you can have toxic personalities that will either ruin the business or cause it to struggle. Whereas the right co-founders will help you grow your business quickly and reduce a lot of risks.
If you’re looking for how to find great co-founders for your business, here’s how to pick the right co-founders for your startup:
See Also: 6 Reasons You Don’t Need a Business Partner Just Yet!
1). Have A Great Product Or Service That Defines Your Business:
Before you go out searching for co-founders to join your business, you need to have a great idea for a product or service that you plan to sell. Even better, you should have a finished product or service, unless you’d require a technical co-founder to help you to first build it.
Having a product or service makes it easier for people to understand better when you pitch them to join your company. They’d see what you’re offering the market and can then make a decision to join you or not on the journey.
Sometimes, it’s best to not just have a product or service but to have already gained some form of traction.
2). Find People Who Either Have The Same Vision As You Or That Have Fully Bought Into Your Vision:
Starting a business is like building a new part of your life that’d follow you till the very end of either the business or your time on earth. And so, it is important that the person you bring on this journey with you is someone who either has the same vision or has bought into your vision.
When you work with people who believe in your values, causes, and standards, they’d work more passionately since your goals are aligned with theirs.
Try as much as possible to stay away from bringing on co-founders that have a now-now mentality for money. All they care about is how much they can make, not how much real value or impact the business can have on the lives of customers.
When you only chase money, you slowly kill your organisation until no one wants to buy your products or services anymore.
See Also: How To Partner With A Large Company If You’re A Small Business
3). Choose People Who Complement Your Skill Sets:
If you’re a business development expert and want to launch a tech startup, it is reasonable that you find a techie to join you as a co-founder.
Find people who complement your skillsets.
Visionaries need people who pay attention to the facts and figures so that when you’re thinking far into the future, your partners can be focused on what can be done now, tomorrow, next week, next month, and the likes to get to the destination.
Depending on your skillset, only take on people who compliment you.
4). Find People Who Have Previously Worked In A Similar Industry:
When you have a vision to build a great company, one of the ways to achieve it is to bring onboard people who have worked in the same industry or similar industry in the past. This is key because they’d bring a lot of valuable experience and information that would save you months and years of trials and errors.
See Also: How To Improve Employee Loyalty & Commitment To Your Business
5). Choose People You’ve Known For A While:
Above all else, it’s important that the co-founders you choose are people you’ve known for a while. This is key for you to understand their personalities, what makes them tick, what they believe in, how comfortable they are to work with, and so much more.
By choosing to only work with people you’ve known for a while, you can easily create a friendly atmosphere from the get-go.
