Partners? Do They Help?

I remember a few years ago when I heard about investors in websites. I heard it from @Jordan who's also on here and conveniently for this topic; an investor. So I've always wondered what an investor is when it comes to a forum. I've always imagined them as a partner (but with more money). A partner that actually contributes because like me they have an invested interest. To a new forum people that are active can be huge, and those with more experience can help even more, so is taking on a partner or investor a good thing to do in these times? What are the pro's, con's, and where do you find such people?

Might be an interesting topic.

 

I've tried the partner and investor (it's two different roles, in my experience) bit before with mixed results. What I've learned from experience is that you need to find the right person/people and if you're doing it with the right person the other stuff will most likely fall into place. One thing I'd highly caution about is that someone is looking for a partner/investor because they don't have the drive or commitment to the project and they think that someone else is going to come in and do it all for them, or bail them out. That's what I'd call the wrong type of person.

I'd certainly consider doing a partnership, or be an investor in someone else's project, or even have a partner or investor in something I'm doing in the future too. The potential upsides need to outweigh the down sides. The biggest down side being that you are not in full control. You need to make sure it's the right project though, but beyond that, you need to make sure it's the right person. You need to make sure that as a team you will be able to accomplish more than you each could accomplish individually, or there's no point in working together.

 

I've learned to just do things on my own, it all just depends if you both have the same goals and apply the same amount of work for a common achievement. Good communication skills and about the same knowledge of the job at hand. I usually do not look for partnership but if something as a partnership was to ever happen its just a maybe, there are pros and cons to it.

 

Starting a new forum with a partner is a great idea, and for obvious reasons compared to starting one on your own. The only thing that would bother me about doing it. When it comes to things like how the forum layout should be, what boards should be added, theme used e.t.c. It would be a joint decision of course, and odds are you're not going to agree on how each other thinks things should be done.

 

I have an official partner for two forums I'm involved with and we work really well together. We both have our strengths and our weaknesses and play to them. The main thing about going into partnership with someone is trust. If you can't fully trust the person you're working with, then don't do it.