This month’s theme is “Creating Business Partnerships.” Throughout January, my posts will be exploring the many ways that we create partnerships within our businesses and how to leverage them to grow our business.

“A partner in the business will not put an obstacle to it.”
~ Ethiopian Proverb

There are many reasons you might want or need to end a business partnership. Sometimes it is easy to know when … at other times it is no so clear. Here are some guidelines that will help you decide if it is time to sever the ties of a business partnership.

Is the partnership obsolete?
Maybe you co-created a product that no longer serves its market. Maybe your skill set has expanded and you are no longer a good match with your business partner. As times change, the reason you created the partnership can go away.

Is the partnership not working anymore?
Sometimes people change, and when they do their relationships with other change, as well. Maybe your skill sets are no longer compatible. Maybe your personalities are no longer compatible. Either way, when a partnership no longer works, it is time to bring it to an end.

Have you changed direction?
Sometimes you are the one who has changed. Maybe when you created the business partnership it was in alignment with your goals. But now, as your goals have changed, the partnership no longer takes you in the direction you want to head.

Are you or your partner moving geographically?
Sometimes a business partnership requires that both partners be in a certain geographic location. If this is the case and one of you is moving, it might be time to dissolve the partnership.

These are just a few of the reason you might want to end a business partnership. Once you’ve decided this is the best way to go, be sure to do so respectively and legally so that as few bridges are burned.