Earlier this year, The New York Times published an article by Mandy Len Catron, “To Fall In Love With Anyone, Do This”. In it, she wrote about how two strangers could fall in love by asking each other 36 questions. Not surprisingly, it went viral. 
But now, she’s followed it up with a TED Talk, “Falling in love is the easy part”. In her talk, she questions whether the ‘love’ which flows from such a seemingly superficial connection is real. Can it last? And what’s the difference between falling in love and staying in love?
To paraphrase Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw, I couldn’t help but wonder – are these questions applicable to business? Specifically, to finding the ‘one’ when it comes to choosing a business partner? After all, the premise is similar. Embarking on a long-term relationship with someone is all about trust and compromise.
It stands to reason that the more you know about the person before you go into that relationship, the better, especially where money is involved. We all know of couples who’ve broken up because of fundamental differences in life goals like whether or not they want to have children, or their attitude to money. And we all know business partnerships which fail because one person is happy with a part-time gig for shoe money, while the other is a control-freak workaholic who resents every hour their partner takes off for a mani-pedi.
If you want to find love, you can check out the 36 questions here. If you’re looking for a meaningful business relationship, start by asking yourself – and your prospective business partner – the following:
- What’s the most important thing in your life right now?
- How do you see this business fitting in around that?
- Do you have any debts or large financial commitments?
- Do you plan to travel extensively any time soon?
- How long would you be willing to stick this out if the business is not turning a profit?
- If the business needed a quick cash injection to take advantage of an opportunity, or stave off creditors, are you in a position to invest more money?
- Are you looking for a job to pay the bills, or are you interested in possibly forgoing short-term income in the interests of growing a business and making money longer-term (with no guarantees)?
- Do you see this as a hobby or a full-time commitment?
- How many hours are you looking to work each week?
- Where do you see yourself – and the business – in 5 years’ time?
- If the business fails, where will that leave you?
I’m lucky – my business partner and I are different enough that we bring complementary skills and perspectives to the table, but we’re on the same page when it comes to our ambitions for the business. Perhaps best of all, we’re both control-freak workaholics, but we positively encourage each other to take as much time off for mani-pedis as possible.
