Is it Better to Have a Cofounder?
Starting a business comes with a lot of decisions. One of the most impactful decisions is whether to start the business on your own or have a co-founder. This choice can determine the entirety of your business, so it’s important to weigh both the positives and negatives. Read on to see what some of those are.
Pro: Diverse Experience
Having more than one founder means you will have a diversity of experiences to pull from when issues arise. If you and your business partner have different fields of concentration (such as business and sales), you’ll likely find that problems become easier to tackle. Additionally, you’ll have varied insights that can lead to better ideas. These points of view can benefit your company in ways you would never guess.
Pro: Delegate Naturally
Along the same lines as the last point, when you have different areas of expertise, you’ll find that a partnership has natural boundaries. This helps with delegating tasks to different people and making sure the right person takes care of the right problems. Furthermore, it will be easier to start different departments within the business, as you’ll be able to split up responsibilities simply. This can be helpful when you grow your business and one person is unable to complete all of the tasks. Hiring and training staff will become easier as each person takes on their share of the responsibility.
Con: Mixed Opinions
When sharing a vision with another person, you’ll see that opinions can vary greatly. This means that your partner may end up going in a direction that you disagree with. The more people who have a say in the business, the higher the probability that your company will go down an entirely different path than you anticipated. Although the end result may be positive for the business, there is a good chance that you will not be happy, regardless.
Con: Lack of Passion
If you have a big difference of opinions from your partner, someone will most likely be disappointed in the outcome. This can, unfortunately, lead to a lack of passion from one party. While this may not completely ruin your company, it can stunt progress and may even lead to some risky choices.
Whether you start a business with a partner or alone, there will be struggles. It’s a good idea to evaluate the pros and cons listed, in order to determine which route is best for you. The answer will vary for every business, so think carefully about what you want the company to look like in 5 or 10 years. Then, consider whether you’ll reach that point alone, or if you need someone else by your side.
