Free Resources on Business Partner Conflict
These resources on business partner conflict are free, and they're here for whichever stage you're at right now, whether you're just starting to name what's wrong or you're already looking for a next step.
Business Partner Conflict · Business Partner Counseling · Cofounder Coaching
Resources for Business Partners and Cofounders
Working Through Conflict
If you're looking for resources for business partners working through conflict, broken trust, or growing distance, you're in the right place. Sunny Sabbini works with business partners and cofounders across the San Francisco Bay Area who are living through exactly this. Most people find this page before they find anything else on the site, and that's the right order.
START HERE
Partnership Friction Assessment
A short, free assessment for any business partner or cofounder trying to understand what's actually driving the friction, not just the argument on the surface. You'll answer questions about the pattern, how long it's been running, and what you think your partner would say if asked the same questions. You'll get a clearer read on what's happening and a suggested next step.
Free. About 10 minutes.
IF YOUR PARTNER DOESN'T KNOW YOU'RE HERE YET
A Short Guide for the Partner Who Found This First
Your Partner Doesn't Know You're Here Yet
If you found this site before your partner did, this is for you. It's a short guide to what the one-partner-first experience actually is, why it's more common than you might think, and how to think about bringing this to your partner. It covers the three ways that conversation most often goes wrong, and what tends to work instead.
Free. No signup required.
Articles Organized by Where You Are in the Process
Resources for Understanding What's Happening
For when you know something is wrong, but you're not sure what to call it or why it keeps happening.
Why Business Partners Fight, and Why It Usually Gets Worse Over Time
This piece looks at what's actually driving recurring friction, and why addressing the surface argument rarely makes it stop. Start here if you're not sure where else to start.
When Business Partner Communication Breaks Down
What's really happening when conversations keep going badly with someone you've built something real with, and why trying harder at communication often doesn't fix it.
How to Deal With a Difficult Business Partner
For when the friction is consistent enough that you've started to wonder if the problem is your partner.
Do You Need Partnership Coaching?
How to think about whether outside support makes sense, what that support actually involves, and what to look for in someone who works specifically with business partners.
Resources to Reduce the Cost of Waiting
For when you've been managing around conflict for a while.
Should You Leave Your Business Partner?
How to tell the difference between a partnership that needs work and one that isn't workable.
Resources for Leveraging What’s Possible with Work
For when you're ready to think about what things could look like on the other side.
How to Repair Trust With a Business Partner
What repair actually requires, and the difference between moving on and repairing.
Longing to Be Friends Again With Your Business Partner
For the partnership that started as a close friendship and has lost real closeness along the way.
How to Divorce-Proof Your Business Partnership
The practices that make a business partnership genuinely more durable, built through structure rather than better intentions.
How to Vet a Cofounder or Business Partner
For partnerships that are an earlier stage , or for anyone thinking about what it takes to build a business relationship that holds: What the research and practice actually say about partnership durability, and what predicts it.
Have a Specific Question?
The FAQ covers the questions people most often ask before deciding on a next step: what this work involves, who it's right for, what to do if your partner isn't ready, and more.
WHEN YOU'RE READY FOR MORE SUPPORT
What Comes Next
Reading helps you understand the pattern. At some point, understanding is enough to act on, and the right next step depends on where you and your partner are.
Take The Friction Assessment
The goal is simple: to stop feeling like you're wrestling with an adversary and start working again as allies.
Not sure if your partner is ready? Many people start here alone. That's a normal place to begin, and it doesn't rule out doing this together.
Blogs
Longing to be Friends Again with Your Business Partner?
I just finished an initial Business Partnership Session with two co-founders and long-time friends. Well, former friends. They’ve been in business together for over a…
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Vetting a Cofounder or Business Partner AKA Business Spouse
You’ve already thought carefully about the pros and cons of partnership as a business structure as well as the alternatives and decided the benefits are…
Do You Need Business Partnership Coaching?
Being in a business partnership, aka a business marriage, will test you in every way possible. Yes, it has the potential to allow the two…
How to Divorce-Proof Your Business
Launching a new business means having to encounter some unexpected challenges and occasional setbacks. Having a business partner can make many of these moments more…
Sunny Sabbini, M.A.
(415) 895-0786
San Francisco Bay Area
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