ProActive was my first business, we partnered with companies in the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, Russia, Kazakhstan to build a profitable enterprise selling Mightycall in the APAC and CIS region. I established one entity in Russia and opened a company in Singapore with Dean, a Singaporean and former Mightycall sales representative. My experience in this business partnership taught me a valuable lesson the hard way.
Before starting a business with a partner, it's essential to set clear rules and agree on them mutually, preferably in writing.
My first mistake was not communicating my expectations and business regulations with my partner effectively, which caused us to operate on different assumptions. It was challenging to discover that my partner was concealing certain things and using the company's funds for personal needs.
Trust is essential, but you must also maintain proper control.
Without it, you leave yourself in a vulnerable position. My second mistake was attempting to minimize unnecessary expenses by opening a company with only one shareholder, Dean, to add myself later. Although I had access to the bank account, one day I was unexpectedly removed from it.
The third mistake I made was not being focused and involved enough in the major decisions made by the Partner and in the sales process. As a result, we paid a heavy price as our sales were completely halted at some point.
The fourth mistake - don't do what you don't believe in I agreed with Dean's idea to build a communication platform but I felt it was not the right decision. However, I didn't voice my concerns and managed the process anyway. As a result, we spent most of our profits and reserves on creating a working prototype and found ourselves in a difficult financial situation.
The formula 1+3+4+2=0 led me to the reformatting of the project, leaving only support for existing clients.