Looking for a Partner - West Midlands area

shadeofblue

Hi all,

I'm looking for a partner in the Birmingham, West Midlands area.
If you are interested please message me and i'll give you my email address.
Regards
Rachel

sagewayne

I am quite interested in.
Thanks

Monsoon

Taking on a partner is a very big step.

There's a recent good discussion on AWeb here that is worth reading
http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/accountancy-practice-merger/500263


Please note my comments from that thread (copied below) - I've been there, done that and been burned - I'm know partnerships work for many, but I've also seen many that don't work (including my own) and so there are lots and lots of things to consider.

If you find the right person, good luck! If you don't find the right person - don't take someone who "might do"!

Do you know what this person is like to work with? Or are you only going on what they tell you? Can they substantiate their claims?

Get references - more than a few references - of people who have worked with them for over 2 years, both clients and colleagues.

Get up to date accounts for their business. If they don't have them, why not?!

What systems do they currently use and are they streamlined or clunky?

Are they an accountant, or are they a business-person (they ought to be both)?

Who is going to run the business in terms of admin and bookkeeping - both of you, or just one. If it's them, how will you feel about losing immediate control over it? Or vice versa?

I would be very wary of the "one half technical work, other half ideas, sales and marketing" partnership. Invariably an imbalance of power and workload ensues, causing problems.

What are their short/medium/ long term plans? What are yours?

What is your exit strategy? Realisically this will nearly always be a buy-out of some description.



Personally, I would not take on a partner again. I now employ another accountant, and I think this business model works much better for me.

As a previous respondent said, you work very hard and you have a lot of attention to detail in terms of running your business. I'm not convinced a partner would suit you. I also like Ding Dong's idea.

Bottom line: think very, very hard about it and do a lot of due dilligence. If they are a 'good sales and marketing' type they will do a great selling job on you about why they are fabulous, but make sure it's backed up with evidence.

shadeofblue

thanks for your advice Jenny, I'll take a look in depth sometime next week (i've only just returned from holiday).
Thanks again