The first thing I recommend is determining what you want from the partnership, chat with the person and see what they want. Hire a business valuation person to see what they see as tangible and intangible assets of the company. Sit down with a lawyer and ask advice from experts. I was recently coaching a client with a similar issue (he was the one wanting to buy in) the owner felt his toilets were made of gold. This can be an emotional thing, use experts to take the emotion out of it. If you want to chat more, give me a shout. I know some great experts. Michael

Leadership hasn't changed. Like my mentor says "Leadership is influence, nothing more nothing less" Now the way we influence has changed greatly. I would highly recommend reading John Maxwell's 5 Levels of Leadership 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and 15 Laws of Growth There are many ways to lead. I would recommend becoming a person if influence who has a great message that people will want to become a part of. Michael

I would look at how you add value to people and what do you enjoy. My new business is based on my passions of fishing and coaching people. I believe there will be more small businesses started in the next decade due to the change in way people want to do business.

In order to be successful, you need to know exactly to who you are marketing too. All to often I see start ups without the necessary focus of who there customers are exactly. Most times they are too broad on who they feel they are selling themselves too. From what I see consumers and contractors is way too broad. Right now you need to only focus on two things. Leads and Conversion Rate. Personal contact and social media if done correctly can bring in leads and can be inexpensive. What is your monthly marketing budget? Are you tracking what is working and what isn't and how is it being attracted? I would enjoy chatting about this. Michael

A good work/life balance with a start up can be difficult, but not impossible. But unfortunately it happens in corporate life as well. I believe it is about priorities and setting a schedule to ensure they are met. Too many distractions (emails are a big one) get in the way. As a company grows the entrepreneur should become an expert at leveraging. They should leverage Time, Relationships etc. Having a personal growth plan is something I would recommend in order to achieve this balance. I would enjoy chatting more about this.

I like to work with a combination of the two. Coaching is a process where the coach entices the answers from the client. It is not their job to provide the answers, that is what consultants do. Coaching allows the individual to learn how to solve complex problems on his own. Mentors are individuals who have been there done that. They give advice, on how they have done it in the past. A good coach will tell you when they switch from coach to mentor role. As a coach, I prefer to work with industries that I have a limited amount of experience in. This way I am not "telling" my client how to do things. I am able to get them to solve their problem, this usually comes from inquisitive type questions that coaches ask. An example I can use is with a current client. She owns a day spa, I have very limited experience in that industry, but she is having team issues. I have experience working with complex teams. I can ask her questions about her team, but coming from a totally different perspective. In this relationship, she has seen how she made some poor hiring choices, hiring people that do not share her core values. Now we are looking at changing hiring practices. If you would like more info, please give me a call.