Find Your Partner

Ready to dive into business with a heavyweight? Before you jump, make sure you know the answers to the following questions, from Partnering Intelligence: Creating Value for Your Business by Building Strong Alliances (Davies-Black Publishing) by Stephen M. Dent. The answers should be in line with your business goals and visions.

1. What is your potential partner's vision?

2. Where does it want to go as a business?

3. What are its values and ethics?

4. What kind of corporate culture does it have?

5. What types of relationships and partnerships does it already have and how well have they been working out?

6. What are its strategies to achieve its vision?

7. Has it conducted an internal assessment?

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Robert McGarvey is Entrepreneur's "Staff Smarts" and "Web Smarts" columnist.

This article was originally published in the February 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Find Your Partner.