How did you start your first project - solo or in a partnership?

Hello IH community!

Much before I started working on Price2Spy, JustLikeAPI, and BotMeNot I had a passion for building websites from scratch.

I started developing my first online Webshop back in 1998., with 1 partner. Later on, the project grew and gained traction so the workload increased and many other obligations appeared. I reached out to some more people around me and ended up partnering with four people in total. 20 years on, our relationship is still active, we’re still partners in this project, myself having the least operational involvement.

I would like to share my experience, knowledge, and positive and negative experiences when it comes to working with partners (as opposed to working solo):

Positive sides:

• If your relationship with your partners is founded on trust it’s basically set to be a long-lasting relationship - the four of us are still partners after more than 20 years!

• Easier beginnings, no fixed costs, and more people working together means that “multiple heads are smarter than one”.

• This leads to your project advancing quicker

Negative sides:

• Not all partners are motivated in the same way for working on the project’s growth and are not ready to invest the same amount of time, effort, and even money into the project.

• Critical moments can occur when misunderstandings among partners can jeopardize the whole project. My takeaway from these types of situations is that you need to define owner rights from the very beginning - clearly and precisely!

As the business grew, I started working on Price2Spy alone, no partners, because my company grew, and I already had development and operational resources of my own. However, over the years, I have identified key people in my company and I’ve made sure they are directly interested in the projects’ growth. This gives them a sense of ownership and, even though they don’t have owner’s rights, keeps them highly motivated to keep working on them. It’s a similar story for JustLikeAPI.

My final conclusion is that forming partnerships is much easier when you’re young and when you’re working with people you know. This makes it easier to develop trust and to understand each other. And those things are among the most important aspects of a successful, long-lasting partnership in any business, in my opinion.

Now I would like you to tell me your story and we can share our insights!

Or feel free to ask me any questions about this topic!