Finding Your Primary Aim Becomes Critical When Taking On a Partner

Absolutely, these are very important questions to ask a spouse. You are binding yourself legally to this person for the foreseeable future.

That's point about taking on a business partner - it's the same. You will be legally bound together, both of your credit scores will be examined together, and your future depends in some sense upon the other's cooperation. It's important to take the same care in the business partner decision that you would take in the marriage decision.

You date for... how long? At least a year, usually longer, before you decide to marry someone. Then there's a pre-marriage period in which you & your future spouse buckle down & ask each other these big questions. The same ought to be true of business partnerships.

Maybe not the year-long thing, but you should really know the person's character before you ask them to consider the partnership. Then, there needs to be a period where you ask each other these big questions - are we really better together than apart?

My wife and I asked and answered those questions to each other, over time, before we got married. It's no wonder 50% end in divorce: no one asks questions anymore.

That being said, a friend and I may have just landed our first gig, so it looks like the side business is actually coming alive.