Entrepreneur mom Michelle
Kedem, 34, mother of Ella, 2; partner, On-Ramps, a New York City-based
recruiting and consulting firm specializing in flexible work
arrangements.
Number of employees: Three full-time partners.

My story: I used to be one of
those over-the-top type-A people. You know, the ones who sleep with
their cell phones next to their pillow and check office email from home
every hour. But a workplace reorganization three years ago, coupled
with the birth of my daughter, left me feeling disillusioned. Tired of
bellyaching about the ills of big business, my friend Sarah Grayson and
I decided to start a company that would help people like us: those who
wanted to excel in corporate America but didn't want to surrender their
personal lives. All too often, it seemed like it had to be 9-to-5 or
nothing. We conjured up the idea of starting a recruiting firm that
specialized in finding a fit between companies and workers in search of
flexible work arrangements.

When Sarah's husband heard of our plan, he put us in touch with his
friend Harry Weiner. Previously a search consultant at a major
alternative asset recruiting firm, Harry had just launched his own
business recruiting mothers for full-time, part-time and project-based
work. Because of the similarities between our goals and our backgrounds
(I was a senior financial manager at Time Inc.; Sarah was an engagement
manager at Katzenbach Partners LLC), the three of us decided to get
together. 

After some note-taking and brainstorming, we realized we had to extend
our focus beyond mothers. They weren't the only people seeking flexible
job arrangements, after all. The more research we did, the more we knew
we were on to something: Our business could really make a difference.
But we had some nagging questions. Could we work together? Would our
personalities mesh? Could we trust each other? We needed to get to a
point where we felt comfortable with one another and had enough faith
to share all of our ideas and concerns.

We decided to accelerate the trust-building process by spending large
chunks of time together, discussing possible scenarios for the business
and addressing the areas we each felt passionate about—including our
vision for where we wanted the business to be in ten years. We talked
about how and who we would hire and what would make us different from
other recruiting firms. We also studied dozens of business partnerships
to determine what worked. When it came to creating the legal document,
we simply started with a template (there are many online) and spent our
legal fees where they were most needed: on customizing it to meet the
specifications of our particular business.

By last December, we had packed a year of working together into five
months, and on January 1, 2007, we launched On-Ramps, a recruiting and
consulting firm specializing in workplace innovations. We give
companies an edge in hiring top talent by showing them how offering
flex can boost their bottom line. There are tons of highly skilled pros
out there who, for whatever reason, really need that flexibility. By
providing companies with access to this underutilized pool of talent,
we're able to get our clients very talented people for full-time,
part-time and project-based assignments.

So far, our partnership (and combined Rolodexes!) has been a success.
But what's especially gratifying is that I'm helping give others what
my business has given me: a way to be a good employee and a happy
person.

Lessons Learned

1: Clearly Define Each role and responsibility. We decided early on who would have responsibility for specific decisions, as well as which decisions would need to be made
by a majority and which would need to be made unanimously.
 
2: Solicit advice from others.
We asked members of other partnerships what worked well and what tore
them apart. We were specific in our requests for anecdotes and put
ourselves in the shoes of both parties in all disagreements.
 
3: Imagine worst-case scenarios.
We talked about what would cause any of us to leave the business. We
defined our exit terms and spelled out what partners who left would be
entitled to. For instance, we set the minimum amount of time existing
partners had to wait before selling back their equity in the company.
 
4: Set Leave guidelines. We talked a lot about leaves (including maternity and paternity)
and discussed whether this was something on everyone's agenda. When we
found out it wasn't, we came up with a plan that was fair to all three
partners.  

Click here to read Michelle's blog!

Ask A Pro: How to create a winning partnership

Expert mom: Linda Finkle, CEO of a coaching firm, with daughter Stacey, 25,
and granddaughter Shyann, 4.

Chatting with a girlfriend about how wonderful it would be to go into
business together selling handmade jewelry is one thing; making sure
the friendship can stand it is another. The same goes for family and
acquaintances looking to collaborate in a company. Many a business has
gone bust because once-perfect partnerships became pernicious. Linda
Finkle, the CEO of Incedo Group, an organizational coaching firm based
in Potomac, MD, and previously the owner of an executive search firm,
shares her tips on making sure you and your partner(s) are a good fit.

Share a vision. It's essential
for each partner to have the same idea for the business—and it's
important to keep checking in with each other once the business gets
rolling. Visions change, and you all have to constantly be on the same
page. It impacts hiring, capitalization, infrastructure decisions and
everything else. Think of this in the same terms you would any other
relationship: What if you got married to someone who wanted four
children, a huge home in the 'burbs and a BMW SUV in the driveway, but
you wanted a quiet one-bedroom, sans kids, in the city—with a Prius?
The challenges your relationship would face would be tremendous. A
business partnership that doesn't share a vision is no different.

Clearly define your business roles.
Often, all members of a partnership want to do everything and have a
say in each and every decision. An absence of clearly defined roles is
one of the biggest reasons partnerships break up. One way to fix this
is to evaluate each individual's skills and strengths (and definite
weaknesses, and use them to define their corporate roles. If one person
is a natural marketer and one is a natural at operations, you have the
makings of specific roles. Beyond this, you must decide how decisions
will get made. Who will determine what? Will decisions be made together
as a team or independently? And are there conditions under which
decisions will need to be made together?

Divide the workload. Many
partnerships aren't 50/50, and they don't need to be. When figuring out
how the company will run, several factors should be taken into
consideration. Who puts in the money—is the amount equal? Are both
partners intending to commit equal amounts of time to the business?
Would you rather be a full partner, a silent partner or a working
partner? Again, how the business is split is less important to its
success than how decisions will be made.

Be realistic. It takes a lot of work to create and maintain a successful partnership.
Don't expect things to always go smoothly (any more than you would in
any other relationship). With that in mind, choose your battles wisely.

Determine what is really important to fight for (and over) and what isn't.
Regularly reassess everything. Most people's skills will develop and
change over time. So will the needs of your business. Make sure to have
check-ins and acknowledge this early on—and be prepared to handle it.