![\"Series:](\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Quirine.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nAccording to legal expert Quirine van Maanen,\u00a0going into business together is a bit like marriage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes there can be hesitancy and it\u2019s a bit like a courtship,\u201d she explains. \u201cFirst of all we\u2019ll dance around each other and maybe have a little kiss, then we\u2019ll see if we like each other and then you might do the formal part\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Of course, the mergers and acquisitions specialist from the Netherlands is not suggesting you actually get up close and personal with a potential partner or investor, but there\u2019s a lot to be said for a corporate courtship when it comes to sharing your hopes and dreams \u2013 and profits \u2013 with someone else.<\/span><\/p>\n The joy of shared values<\/b><\/p>\n We know there\u2019s a lot to gain from collaboration, like fresh inspiration, new skills, sharing burdens and resources and companionship, but what should you look for before taking the plunge? For Quirine, it all starts with understanding what you\u2019re lacking yourself and finding a common direction.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not something you can contract,\u201d she says. \u201cIt can be intuition and a gut feeling \u2013 do I like you? Do I want to work with you? \u2013 but it also has to be based on trust and common values. If you\u2019re both serious entrepreneurs and you both have an idea of where you\u2019re going, you can help each other; there\u2019s a synergy and you can move forward on that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This is an area with which Quirine is familiar, particularly as she herself provides legal and strategic advice to start-ups. To use the old \u2018opposites attract\u2019 analogy, she often finds that the best partnerships are those where the collaborators are different characters with one the entrepreneur, the other a visionary.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSomeone can be the extrovert, the other the introvert. One is on the inside of the company and the other is the face of the company. If you don\u2019t want to be the front-runner, you have to be prepared to contribute to the other person\u2019s success. Both of you should fully understand and respect the different roles and understand that you need each other because you can\u2019t survive or be successful without the other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Time to make a commitment\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n So, once you\u2019ve found <\/span>the one<\/span><\/i>, as it were, how do you go about formalising your partnership? To channel the celebrity vibe \u2013 think Kim and Kanye \u2013 a business pre-nup is a good way to go.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can draft an agreement or a term sheet detailing certain phases, certain milestones. It can be a living document so that changes can be made if you both agree, but you have to ask yourselves \u2018are we moving forward?\u2019 \u2018are we hitting the milestones?\u2019. As you hit the milestones, you get to the go\/no-go point and this makes everything clearer. Everyone should understand what their responsibilities are and what the end point is. And of course if you have a document and you have to put your signature on it, that\u2019s the emotional tie \u2013 I have signed for this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And finally\u2026 show your vulnerability<\/b><\/p>\n So, if you\u2019re ready to look for that special person, Quirine has one last piece of advice.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cKnow what you haven\u2019t got and be honest about it,\u201d she says emphatically. \u201cDecide what you want and don\u2019t rush the initial \u2018friendship\u2019 stages. And don\u2019t be afraid to reach out to your network, your contacts can help you or put you in front of someone else who can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n You see? Even blind dates can lead to lasting relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" According to legal expert Quirine van Maanen,\u00a0going into business together is a bit like marriage. \u201cSometimes there can be hesitancy and it\u2019s a bit like a courtship,\u201d she explains. \u201cFirst of all we\u2019ll dance around each other and maybe have a little kiss, then we\u2019ll see if we like each other and then you might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[125,36,37,49,51,126,128,74],"class_list":["post-3767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-collaboration","tag-entrepreneur","tag-female-entrepreneur","tag-investing","tag-legal","tag-partnerships","tag-power-of-partnerships","tag-quirine-van-maanen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3767"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3770,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3767\/revisions\/3770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Series:](\"https:\/\/wyseminds.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Quirine-blog.jpeg\")
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