I completely understand why people want a Co-Founder (skills, accountability, motivation etc) and when a partnership is a considered match and is continually nurtured, it can be the competitive advantage that enables your success. However if a partnership isn’t properly constructed or nurtured, it can jeopardise the business.

I therefore always say that entering into a Co-Founder partnership is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. So it’s vital that you fully assess and understand the implications of a partnership and who that partner is.

My free resource, What to Consider When Choosing a Co-Founder, takes you through all the steps to help you do that. Here’s a taster of what to work through, which hopefully make it feel less overwhelming:

1 - Why do you want a Co-Founder?
You say you “need a Co-Founder”. Do you know why? Have you defined that need? Are you so clear on what that need is, that you could tell me the specific impact on your day / week of having a business partner?

You can’t find the right Co-Founder if you’re not 100% clear on why you want one. I find the reasons sit across two buckets: emotional and practical, so write these out and prioritise them to understand what your driving motivators are. Getting clarity on this is so important to inform what the partnership could look like in practice.

2 - Who is your ideal Co-Founder?
I’m not saying a partnership will only work if you find someone with all the qualities you’re after, but listing this out gives you full clarity on what you’re looking for. Then as you say, you can choose what qualities to prioritise and what you could compromise on.

I’ve got all the questions to go through to map out your ideal partner in the resource I mentioned. It also covers how to assess potential partners and the key things to understand and discuss before you commit. If you want any help with these exercises, please do book a free call with me.

As I said, I totally get the desire to find a Co-Founder and in lots of cases, it's the right thing for the business. But I see so many Founders hold themselves back because they think they can't move forward without a partner; and that isn’t the case.

Here’s 6 alternative ways to bring in the skills and support whilst searching for the right Co-Founder. I explain this in more detail in this LinkedIn post.

1 - Fractional Exec
2 - Freelancer
3 - Advisor
4 - Collaborations and partnerships
5 - Founder networks or accelerators
6 - Coach or business strategist (me? 👀)

The only thing keeping you feeling stuck is thinking that this has to be resolved to move forward, when it doesn’t! Work through my guide on looking for a Co-Founder so you can carry on your search with full clarity. Then look at the options above for other ways you can bring in support in the meantime 😊