15+ Interview Questions To Ask For Finding A Business Partner

Building a successful business and team starts with finding a business partner which suits you perfectly.

In some cases, you have investors who help in finding the partner to start the business.

But it depends on what you choose, some partners are passive while others are more active. In order to find the ideal one, you need to have a list of questions ready to select the right partner for you.

What You Should Look at During The Interviewing The Business Partner?

The ideal business partner not just shares the values and goals, but has the qualities which complement yours.

This helps in ensuring that approving meetings, making investment decisions, etc are done with the same dedication as yours.

At the same time, when you find the right partner who has qualities that complement yours, it will help in working as a safeguard against any blindspot and keep the business fresh.

Well when you are interviewing the candidates for a suitable business partner, make sure you look for these points first.

Reliability

First and format, the quality is just as you need a partner on whom you can count before you start the business with them.

When you are interviewing potential partners, make sure you are focusing on the way they are treating the communication, meeting time, and people around them.

Having a reliable business partner will not just value the time, but also be punctual, consistent, and communicative.

Trustworthy

To avoid problems that your business might encounter, take the time and focus on building the realization, along with ensuring that there is mutual trust.

It’s important that you both trust each other, so find a partner with whom you have guaranteed peace of mind as you focus on growing the business.

Passion

The next quality to look for in a partner is a passion for the company and the mission you share.

Look for the partners who care about what you are working on and trying to accomplish.

Working with someone who shares lukewarm feelings about the company goals will not be an effective partnership for the business.

Creativity

A creative business partner can be useful for generating and coming up with new ideas but also helps in solving the problems.

Creative business partners see the changes from different angles and make an invaluable asset.

Compatibility

A business partner might have all the qualities but if you are not compatible with them, then it won’t work and the partnership will end up failing.

So it’s important that you have mutual respect, and also compatibility to be effective business partners.

Resilience

Business always has ups and downs, this will undoubtedly run into problems over some time.

Having a business that can face those problems and start again is one of the perfect business partners you could find.

List Of Interviewing Business Partner Questions To Ask

Well, if you are looking for business partners, it’s important that you have a good list of questions with you, this will help in finding and differentiating between who can be potential ones and which one is going to be problematic partners.

Here is the list of questions you should ask :

Have You Been In Partnership Before With Some Other Business?

The question to find out if the candidate is ever taken part in a similar situation or join a business venture

Here you need to know about the positive as well as negative experiences they had with their previous business partnerships before you move forward.

That’s why you need to ask about their job experiences and how they worked out for them.

How They Handled Time During Crisis?

There is no doubt that at some point eh business has to face conflict and sometimes it leads to crises.

Before you start with partnership, the question will help you in knowing how they handled the situation in their previous experiences.

Make sure that you ask about their temperament when situations like this arise and how they deal with stressful environments.

What Are Their Communication Style?

Communication is important and it’s a key that leads to successful business partnership.

So don’t just focus on how they are answering the question, but also their approach to the meeting.

See if they are direct about the schedule or they prefer email, text, or phone calls?

It’s best to know about the details so you can save from the mess for the future.

What Do They See In Business Will Look In Five Years?

After you know a little bit about time on learning about the past experiences, it’s time that you look at what the future goals look like.

Have you decided what kind of business you want to have or what short as well as long-term goals you are going for?

Do They Prefer The Exit Strategy And If Yes, Then Why?

It’s important to understand what factors in partnership could lead to instability.

The answer can help in knowing the worst-case seniors and also to find the solution on how you can proceed from it.

This is also important as you are going to incorporate the business and start the draft for the contracts.

What Are Their Current Financial Situation?

Well, the partnership is going to need some kind of capital investment and this question can help you in knowing how you approach the start-up costs, lenders as well as investments in the future.

Also, you need to inquire about their portfolio and if they have any outstanding debt.

Not just that, you also need to be prepared for sharing similar answers about yourself.

Do They Consider Themselves Frugal When It Comes To Spending Money?

Spending habits are going to impact the business, even more than just being important for making decisions to invest.

They are also useful in knowing when the operation costs are evaluated.

Ask the candidate if they are good when it comes to budgeting and how they will improve the spending areas.

Would You Okay To Take Risk?

There is nothing wrong when people take risks, but it should be healthy enough.

Also, it should be the question, so you know if the partner is a risk-taker or not. You can also ask them about their previous experiences and examples where they took the risks.

How Much Capital Do They Are Planning To Contribute To Business?

Some business partners are also fun almost exclusively whereas others split costs 50 / 50. You need to be clear about how much they are interested in contributing to the business.

How Do They Expect To Divide Their Profits?

With this, you need to be informed about how the candidate wants to profit and the loss will be distributed to the partnership.

Also, you need to get the answer which gives a clear understanding of the expectation they have towards dividing profits.

What Helps Them To Stay Motivated?

Perhaps it’s a crucial factor when you are looking for a business partner, it’s important that you identify the reason behind what they are going to do.

If you are going to start a business with a partner, you need to be on the same page about how they are keeping their motivation.

While there are chances that you have exact motivation, you will have the knowledge of how your business partner is motivating themselves.

What Personal Goals Do They Are Trying To Achieve?

The best entrepreneurs are looking for something which helps in making themselves better.

This is an important question that you should ask to the potential partner, this helps in figuring out how ambitious they are and what drives them.

How Much Time Do They Are Willing To Invest In Business?

The question is crucial that you are required to ask. Not just that, it will help you in knowing how much time the partner is willing to commit to the business.

Also, this will help in knowing about this important thing, so you are not working on everything on your own.

What Are Their Expectations With The Business?

Expectations are one of the things that you should learn about the potential business partner.

Ask what kind of role they are looking for, or how much they want to be involved with them along with what they expect from the partnership.

What Are Their Greatest Strengths And Weaknesses?

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the candidate can provide you with valuable information. This also helps in getting insight on what are their best skills, how they prioritize the projects, and which areas they are looking to excel in the future.

Having a business partner who is aware of the weakness and strengths can help in knowing what kind the partnership will be.

What Questions Do They Have For Yourself?

Before you start the business partnership, you need to be on the same page. So you need to be sure that their questions are answered.

You can ask about the questions they have for yourself and make sure you are being transparent with your answers.