Do you think patnering on the internet with someone unknown is advisable? I mean Business Patnering with another party.
I wouldn't do it. I would only do it with someone I have know for some time. Trust is invaluable and you can't get that from some stranger on the internets.....
The first thing you need to do is ask yourself why you need a partner at all. If it's because you need a particular service which you can't provide on your own, then you're better off in the long run paying a freelancer to do it instead of bringing in a unknown partner who may cause problems down the road. If you need a partner to provide funding for your project than the internet is the wrong place to be looking for one. Find someone you know personally or better yet raise the money yourself. It may take longer to get your project off the ground, but your patience will pay off without saddling yourself with someone who turns out to be a complete headache. People seem to think the internet is some sort of shield which allows them to do everything they could never get away with in their regular lives. For that reason I would never partner with someone with out a face to face meeting.
thanks for the piece of advice but what if the person is far away in another continent and you know that patnering with the person could be profitable, would you still insist in meeting one on one?
It would depend on how well I know the guy. I'd be more willing to make an exception if the guy has done projects for me in the past without incident. I would at least talk to the guy over the phone if a meeting is not practical. Work out an agreement on what each of our responsibilities are, and make an exit strategy both of us can agree with should things turn sour.
I would consider it if it were US based, or Canadian where they can meet in Detroit from time to time. I do not know about long distance, unless it was strategic partnering, and they were not all up in my kitchen.
I certainly wouldn't be sharing any passwords or access to domain names and such. If you don't mind me asking, what is it that this guy is bringing to the table that you need to partner with him? Is it something that can't be hired out to a freelancer?
I am surprised that there isnt more of a bias being put on which direction things are initially stacked in... I would imagine that much more people would be saying yes to it if the partnership was that the other party was to give you $100k. Would I partner with someone I have never met? Given I have in the past and they have been profitable for me then the answer can be nothing but yes. As with anything online there are some "rules" I would follow in terms of countries that I wouldnt consider being involved in, ensuring that I have control of at least some key elements, ensure the other side is putting up something tangible as well etc
Correct. I have had people approach me on parterships. Full, limited, and strategic. I will not even consider it unless they fit the following. 1. VERY skilled in a certain area. For example, web design, or network IT admin. 2. Are bringing a chunk of cash to the table. I do not need partnerships. While they could be advantageous, and allow me to grow faster in new markets, I am doing good now without the headaches. So you must be extremely advantageous for me to consider it. Having skills, and a chunk of change will make me seriously consider the offer. But again, it would have to be somewhere N. American where I can get at you should you flake out.
I personally have had good experience partnering with people I never met or even spoke to on the phone. I agree with the skill part above; both parties must have some skills. For me it is easy; I provide programming/hosting/IT admining and the other party does the marketing/sales. Usually the other party has the domain name and I have all software + data. That keeps it stable. I would say that past experiences should not affect your future negatively; if you had some bad experience with someone that does not imply that everyone is like that. Even though I was screwed once (for a considerable amount of money) by a partner that I DID know in real life (living in the same city, I am very happy that I did not become more paranoid. I would have missed out on very lasting and profitable partnerships already. So when looking for programming/admin/hosting; you know who to ask for a partner
I had a few people interested in doing it, then floated the bids to see what outsource bids come in. I agree with you though on partnering. Some are better than others. I have one partner now who put in the start up cash on productions company, and has his 30%, but does NO work at all. It's a real **SSER. But I am hoping to buy him out later this year. Now whenever I am contacted, I am sure to make sure they have some skills I lack, a nice chunk of change to put in, or something that is of advantage to me. All the promises of hard work, quick learner, and so on are not enough to cut it. You need more food on my plate. I keep my options open, because obviously there are certain partnerships that would be advantageous, like a traffic guru, black hat, or network/designer/programmer. Just as my vast experience, sales, and SEO are good for someone who doesn't know how to sell. It's sometimes hit and miss.
business partnering is very difficult to do. we talk about the future of the whole business. you need to trust and know the details background of your partner. don't partner with a stranger. unless you want to out-tasking/sourcing part of your task or job, then it's ok just to know their skills by looking at their portfolios and track records.
Yeah ofcourse; that is why I usually leverage that with the provided software and hosting for the project. That usually outweighs years of marketing/sales/design/maintenance.
As indicated above; a lot of people I know and also myself have much better experiences partnering with complete strangers than with people we know. You just need leverage; if it is a website-oriented company, make sure one of you has the urls and the other one has the tech access for instance; the website cannot run or be sold if any of the two disappears.
Ive partnered with 3 different people. I did my research first - if you find someone on here go through their posts/itrader etc see if they look respectable you can tell by their history. keep everything seperate - eg domain in 1 persons name, hosting in the other persons, adsense in 1 person payment via paypal in the other persons that way if anything goes wrong everyone gets something
Good tips, except for using this site as your sole gauge of 'trustworthyness'. Plenty of people have been in this business, and are not super active on this board. Last year, I bought and sold over a 100 sites, but you would never know it from my ID on this board. Or the fact I do this online gig full time for four years, or been in the biz for 10. But in talking to me for 5-15 minutes, or looking at my sites, it's clear I know what I am doing, and not going anywhere. However, for those who are new, it could be tricky. But do not base it on a single board. Plenty of people are active around the net, and have boards outside of any particular one. There are also plenty who are making a mint, and have not time for boards. So keep that in mind as well.