Partnership on marketplaces works when each person owns their part: one handles the product and supply, the other owns sales and day-to-day operations on Ozon. Every store I run is built this way.
My partner focuses on product and supply. I take on all sales operations with my team. Because of that split, the stores keep growing even when I am away for the winter.
How a partnership usually starts
Most often someone comes to me for help, we work together, and that working relationship grows into a partnership. You get to know each other in the work first, and only then agree to run a shared store. That makes sense: you see how a person behaves on the job, not just what they say.
The rules I build partnerships on
I do not work alone. I have a team of account managers and specialists, and a partner, Eduard, with whom we have been building the company for a long time. As in any relationship, we have had hard periods, arguments and disagreements. But there are rules we follow that work for us.
Choosing a partner. For me it is like choosing a wife: a responsible decision that does not allow for haste. You need to meet, get to know each other, study how the potential partner behaves in different situations, and understand the person's principles and what matters to them.
1+1=11. A partnership should be built from strength. If you are strong in marketing, your partner should be strong in logistics, sales or analytics. It does not matter in what. But each person takes on the critical areas of the shared business. Partnership for the sake of partnership, where both of you are creative people with no system-building skills, makes no sense. One should be creative, the other systematic. Otherwise it will not work.
Partner relationships come first. If I had to choose between the business and the partner relationship, I would choose the relationship. It matters more than money, more than shared achievements, more than a shared client base. The practical reason is simple: a good relationship lets both people earn far more over the long run than if one partner sabotaged their part of the work because of an unresolved conflict.
Partnership for the long term. In an age of fast, one-off relationships, long-term ones become more valuable. Long-term relationships in every area - friendship, family, business, partnership, sales - always bring more profit than trying to squeeze the maximum out of a short period.
Communication. You have to talk to your partner the way you do in a marriage. Share doubts and fears, speak directly when something hurts, do not guess what the other person meant but ask. Right away and up front. All problems in a partnership, as in family life, come from things left unsaid in 99% of cases.
What changed in my rules
I used to single out a rule about a 50/50 partnership. The logic was this: when Eduard joined the company, it was already about five years old, with a portfolio, a base of reviews and a foundation. I could potentially have held well over 50%, but I think long term and understand that a strong partner with an equal share will be more motivated by the shared result than a partner who feels shortchanged with a smaller share. So I can lose a little in the moment to win over the long run. I no longer list this as a separate rule, but my approach to equity has not changed.
The risks
The risks follow directly from these rules. First, rushing the choice of partner without studying the person in different situations. Second, building a partnership from weakness, when both people are the same and neither carries the systematic part. Third, things left unsaid: an unresolved conflict that nobody talks about leads to sabotage of one's own part of the work. Fourth, thinking short term and trying to extract the maximum right away instead of building for the long haul.
What to do
- Before agreeing to a shared store, work together first: see how the person behaves on the job.
- Split the areas by strength: one takes product and supply, the other takes sales and operations on Ozon.
- Agree on shares so that the partner is equally motivated by the shared result.
- Voice doubts and grievances immediately and directly; do not let things go unsaid.
- Judge the partnership by the long term, not by quick gain.
