Recently I have been involved with a firm that has decided to split into two sole traders. I have to say that whilst the two guys are great people (and very committed to an amicable split), it’s been a trying time for all involved. Over my time I have been involved with a number of partnership splits, including my own. These have ranged from total disasters, where the people still don’t speak, to seamless processes with strong relationships left intact. (Thankfully my experience was a seamless one).
Now that I am in the middle of facilitating this current split, I thought I would reflect on why some partnerships split and some are hugely successful.
Average (or below) partnerships | Best Performers |
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KPI
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Clear Roles
An Operational driver and decision maker A Strategic driver and decision maker |
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These best performers are consistently leading the market and have the most satisfied partners. They are often the most profitable and team members are usually engaged and focused.
What I am experiencing within my firms, it is the ones that implement that get the results, and believe me not all will get to the best list. That is they do what it takes to turn off from the day to day and make time to work strategically. Firstly on themselves, then with team members and finally with clients (yes it is in that order).
They are focused more on where tomorrow’s $ are coming from and making sure that today’s $ get done.