E82: How to keep a strong business partnership with Benjamin Fox

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Show Notes:

Benjamin Fox has been an entrepreneur since he first went door-to-door selling mistletoe as a child. He’s spent most of his adult career in the web hosting industry and has sold quite a few businesses, including one that he grew to 135 people. He is currently exploring some new ideas after selling his last business in June of 2017, including his site, Healthybusinesspartnerships.com. He has run 100% remote businesses since 1999.

Episode highlights:

• Why a business partnership is like a marriage.
• How Benjamin handled problems with his own partnership.
• What it’s like to work with a mediator.
• How to decide if you should start a business partnership.
• Best advice: Think bigger
• Personal habit that contributes to success: Deeply caring about people
• Internet tools: Axios.com for a summary of top news stories
• Book recommendation: Killer of Men by Christian Cameron

Links:

• Healthybusinesspartnerships.com – check it out for helpful guides, and feel free to reach out through the About page
• Killer of Men by Christian Cameron
• Axios.com

Quotes:

• “The number one thing is having a formal plan.”
• “There’s so many times it gets stressful, (the partnership) gets pushed by the wayside.”
• “Some of the best advice I got at the time was….to take it slow.”
• “We talk about the nitty gritty.”

Takeaways:

• Make a formal plan to maintain your relationship with your co-founder.
• Quality time is important—but it might not be what you think.
• Respect can come to look different as you both change, grow, and stumble.
• We all want to avoid talking about the hard things, but we ignore them at our own peril.