Do You Need A Co-Founder For Your Business?

Harry Trott

June 03, 2015

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Starting your own business can be extremely lonely and stressful. Ask any startup entrepreneur and they will tell you how they lost touch with friends and family during those initial few months. Given the number of different tasks a startup business owner needs to juggle through, it does make logical sense to hire a co-founder who can be your pillar of support during trying times while at the same time complementing you on activities where you do not excel yourself.

But is having a co-founder for everyone? For one, not all businesses need a co-founder. Similarly, depending on what you strive to achieve, you may absolutely require early employees, if not co-founders. Here are some points to think through before you decide whether to look out for a co-founder or not.

Do you have people to complement your ideas and thoughts?

In some businesses, co-founders bring the much-needed alternate perspective that you will need before taking critical decisions. Do you have experienced employees who can help you with such perspectives? Perhaps your significant other can take up the role of playing the devil's advocate for your major decisions. If you are already surrounded by people who can keep you grounded and provide you with different angles of thought, then a co-founder may not be absolutely essential.

Can you find mentors and confidants?

Sometimes all you need is someone to ride along with you in your entrepreneurial journey. Some entrepreneurs find co-founders who have essentially the same skill-sets otherwise because of this reason. But if you can identify a mentor or a confidant who you can share your worries with and can talk to for brainstorming purposes, then you may not really need a co-founder. According to Jay Barnett, the founder of private chauffeur service Priority Pickup, a solopreneur needs to spend as much time as possible talking to qualified mentors who have proven results before taking big decisions.

Do you have problem following through on strategies?

Apart from complementing skills and taking on responsibilities, one area where co-founders really help is in keeping your motivation levels high. When you have one or more co-founders, it is easy to keep each other accountable to the tasks that they are entrusted with. This helps all of you stay productive and eventually helps your business in reaching your targets much more effectively than losing focus and motivation every now and then while working as a solopreneur.

Have you done your due diligence?

Finding a co-founder is like finding a life partner. There is a lot of emotional, financial and physical hardships that one goes through during the journey of starting up a business that picking a wrong co-founder could wreck not just you, but also your startup. Do not jump at the opportunity of partnering with someone simply because they have a glorious past-life in another business or because they happen to be a very close friend who you cannot say no to. Be sure to partner only after you are absolutely sure that they are right for your business.