In my advisory practice, I mostly work with folks who are further along in their business journeys; there are inevitably a few issues on which I wish I could rewind and catch people out of the gate.
Setting up business partnerships is probably number one on my if only you’d come to me sooner list.
John and I just dropped the first in a series of Whiskey Friday episodes on business partnerships. This one’s about the “prenup” phase and our thoughts on how to best set up a business partnership.
Business partnerships, like all relationships, require tending. I talk through my own (unsurprisingly relational) approach to working with partners who are starting out— though, most of what we talk about could apply to any stage— and the kinds of conversations I wish all business partners would have. I was delighted to find John rethinking his own approach after talking through mine. We also weigh in on whether business partners need to be friends (spoiler: they don’t!)
Next up we’re working on episodes about transitions and divorces and breakups: what happens when the business, or your partnership, inevitably changes?
If there’s something you’re wondering about in this vein, or a partnership conundrum you’re currently experiencing, feel free to reach out. We’ll do our best to cover it.
For the Failure Files
Extremely popular Philly Marxo-socialist Korshak Bagel Shop is closing. This whole story touches on a bunch of Summer of Failure threads, including much of what I wrote about in Queer Failure and what Heather + spoke about with her decision to close (also Philly-based1) Primal Supply Meats, in particular the impossibility of individual business ownership.
It’s also just a really good primer on why it’s so challenging to “do the right thing” as a business owner under the constraints of our economic system:
“So, [Philip Korshak’s] walking away. That’s the simple version. He’s just, you know, done. He says that the things he would need to do in order to make Korshak profitable are in direct opposition to the reasons he opened Korshak in the first place. He doesn’t want to automate the production of the dough because producing that dough and making those bagels by hand has been his obsession for 20 years. He doesn’t want to have ordering done through computerized kiosks. Sure, it would save on labor. That’s four people he wouldn’t need anymore, looking after the front, bagging bagels and taking money. But to him, that would be a failure because it would also confirm that the relationship between the customer and the shop is purely material. A constant loop of Give me the thing, give me the money, give me the thing with no personal contact, no moments of connection with the neighbors, no sense of a larger community.”
And just to reiterate, not every kind of business or way of working is viable in the conditions and systems we’re operating within— but that’s not the same thing as saying they shouldn’t be attempted, or we shouldn’t think about the systems and economics that would make them work.
A Fun Thing
My friend Sean and I frequently get together to swap weird ideas and show off our art projects ( if you don’t have a “show and tell” friend, I highly recommend cultivating one ). One of our most recent hangs birthed this rad hotline. Go ahead and call. And do me a favor and leave a voicemail — I recommend reading a favorite poem.
In case you didn’t already know, I’m a Philly native.