When two people who have fallen in love decide to tie the knot, their elation over the impending wedding tends to insulate them from troubling statistics, such as the rising divorce rate in contemporary society.
Similarly, management experts tell Business Report in a feature from the current issue, individuals who decide to go into business together often adopt a rosy view of their prospects. Their excitement about the enterprise can cloud their judgment of how well they will collaborate. As a result, co-founders sometimes discover too late that they have serious incompatibilities.
“I’ve seen a lot of business partnerships turn into disaster,” says Charles D’Agostino, executive director of the Louisiana Business & Technology Center in Baton Rouge.
A veteran entrepreneur who also directs the LSU Innovation Park, D’Agostino says that as prospective business partners lay the groundwork for a business launch, they can easily become so entangled in the details that they overlook obvious big challenges that lie ahead.
Will Campbell Jr., director of the Louisiana Small Business Development Center at Southern University, says one of the most important steps prospective business partners can take is to develop a keen understanding of the person or persons who will share in running and building the business.
“Problems develop when people don’t do their homework,” Campbell says. Read the full story. Send your comments to editors@businessreport.com.
