How can I know it’s time to end a business partnership?

When you and your partner started, you were both excited and ready to dedicate your time and effort to the business. Like many companies, you may have had long hours as you waited for your business to take off.

Now that your concept is starting to take off, you may still be putting in the same amount of energy, but now you see a different amount of effort coming from your partner. The business that began as a partnership is starting to feel one-sided.

Here are some signs that it is time to fire your business partner.

You’re doing all of the work

One of the benefits of a partnership is relying on each other during difficult times. When your partner has something come up in their personal life, you can provide empathy and understanding and eventually shift back to normal workloads. However, when one person refuses to do their share of the work, it can make your life stressful.

Before you jump to ending the partnership, you should talk about changes you could make to create a healthy plan for moving forward.

Your partner seems uninterested

Getting the business started was an exciting time. Often, this is a time when you both are filled with excitement and adrenaline. As these feelings begin to fade and the novelty of starting a business wears off, you may notice your partner is no longer as invested in the business’ success.

In some ways, partnering on a business opportunity is no different from any other job. You stay until you are ready to move to a new opportunity. However, in a business partnership, there can be the expectation that both partners work together forever, making it difficult to discuss when one partner should move on to another opportunity.

As your partnership continues, you should have regular check-ins about the status of your agreement. When your partner’s ambitions or intentions change, you can talk about transition options.

If you already see signs that your partner is no longer committed to the company, you will need to talk to them about how you want to dissolve the partnership and help them transition to their next opportunity.

When you need to dissolve a partnership agreement, you should talk to a skilled professional. Your agreement should have guidance for how you and your partner should proceed when it is time to end your partnership.