As an entrepreneur, bringing in a new business partner can be one of the best financial and strategic opportunities for your business. It can bring a wide array of new skills, experiences, and expertise as well as a financial gain for both partners. Unfortunately, finding the right business partner isn’t always the easiest task.

If you’re considering my new partner, investing in a background check is the easiest way to safeguard your business. Using a website like CheckPeople only takes minutes to complete, and can save you time, aggravation, and potentially financial ruin in the process.

Why You Need a Background Check

A background check can help you navigate difficult decisions regarding your business partnership. It gives you insight into otherwise private and undisclosed information about your partner, which may influence your decision to collaborate.

As much as we’d like to trust our business partners, performing due diligence is critical for maintaining a successful business. That means assessing and limiting risk, understanding risk factors, and making educated decisions moving forward. Without a background check, you’re simply taking that information as factual—instead of confirming it.

Uncovering Financial Risks

One of the most common reasons for partnerships within a business is the increase of capital. Although we’d like to take our partner at his word, there are occasionally situations when this fails to materialize. Having a solid understanding of your partner’s financial situation can help you make an educated determination of the success or failure of those funds materializing.

For example, pending lawsuits, bankruptcies, civil lawsuits, or poor credit can highlight any major concerns with funds your partner may have. It shows a strong history of financial strain and difficulty. Although everyone faces financial difficulty at some point in their lives, a strong history of monetary struggles may serve as a red flag for your new partnership.

Finding Social Media Uncertainty

One of the easiest ways to damage a business’s reputation is through the mouths of partners and employees. In an online era, many people are quick to comment, share, or respond to social media posts. At times, these posts become viral, which could showcase your business or brand in a negative light if your company is attached to questionable content.

Running a background check on your business partner can ensure that both of you are on the same side of many current political, social, and environmental issues. Make sure to choose a platform that scans all social media platforms, like CheckPeople. It investigates all content, posts, photos, and comments attached to the name you input.

Uncovering Criminal History

If your business partner has a criminal past, it could seriously impact your company’s future. Certain criminal charges prohibit an individual from obtaining proper licensing. This means that your business may fail on account of your partner’s history. Further, locating any prior business history can offer inside information on the details of the company.

Did your partner play a part in the failure of the business? Perhaps he played a role in stiffing customers out of money? Performing a background check can help you identify any of these major red flags before it’s too late.

Do I have to disclose background checks?

Absolutely not.

You don’t have to disclose or discuss anything you find in the report. Although, depending on the results, it may help to have a conversation with your potential business partner.

Unlike credit checks, performing background checks does not require permission or consent to obtain. Websites like CheckPeople won’t contact the individual before pulling the records or creating the report. Additionally, your information will never be shared if you purchase a subscription. This means you can safeguard your business from potential blunders, without sacrificing a business connection, friends, or investor.

Protecting Your Business From Risk

Just as you would confirm that an employee had a driver’s license before handing over a company vehicle, running a background check on a potential partner makes good economic sense. Although not everyone will have a perfect history, it will allow you to evaluate the risk versus reward ratio this partner will bring to your company.

If you find something questionable within the report, feel free to mention it before signing the agreement. Allow the individual to discuss the findings with you before walking away from the business agreement altogether. Clear communication is important with all business propositions, partnerships included.