Millions of people co-own closely held companies, family businesses, and business partnerships, but establishing them and keeping them together is never easy. Here, finally, is the guide they have been waiting for.... Read More
Selecting Partners
Click for a comprehensive list of articles, discussions, and interviews by BMC Associates regarding Selecting Partners or scroll through the list to find an article of interest.
Journal of Clinical Orthodontics David Gage June 2001
Dr. Howard Iba, editor of the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics, writes that professionals who are considering taking on a partner "may find that taking the extra step of hiring an experienced psychologist will increase your chances of a successful outcome." David Gage identifies essential elements of a successful partnership: a good fit between the personalities, similar values, the ability to be team players, compatible goals, and mutual trust. He says, "Carefully assessing these critical relationship elements, especially the first two—personalities and values—gives a practice owner a tremendous advantage when selecting a partner." This article describes how psychologists can evaluate these variables and how medical professionals can benefit from discovering the results.
Partners are among the most important people in our lives. This is true for dentists, orthodontists, and other medical specialists who must count on someone buying into their practice and keeping it going in order to realize the final fruits of their labor. David Gage cautions, "Bringing in the wrong person can sour a perfectly good practice." He points out that there are numerous drawbacks to trying to figure out if a candidate is a good fit without some outside assistance. What-you-see is not always what-you-get. An assessment by a psychologist can offer an extra measure of safety when the stakes are very high.
Denver Post, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Indianapolis Star, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), Daily Commerce (Los Angeles, CA) Jane Applegate May 2000
"It's much easier for partners to work on a business plan or a marketing plan than to sort out how they're going to treat each other," says David Gage in this look at some questions small business owners should ask themselves before taking on a partner.
The Washington Post Marianne Kyriakos December 2, 1991
Diving into business partnership without carefully considering all of the things that can go wrong gets a lot of people in trouble. A number of experts on partners share a few key suggestions for people considering joining forces. "Partnerships often form for all the wrong reasons," David Gage says. "They often come together simply because people have money, and that's understandable. But it is not the way you want to form a partnership, which is very much like a marriage, because of the amount of time spent together and the cooperation necessary to make it work."