You don’t just become someone’s business partner overnight. It usually takes a long time for an association to culminate into a business partnership. In many cases, business partners have been friends or colleagues for many years. But what if, over time, you don’t align, your priorities or ambitions change, or you face a major disagreement that hinders the smooth operation or progress of the business?

A sensitive issue

“Friendship and money are like oil and water.” This is a quote from the famous movie The Godfather III. This sentence emphasizes that a conflict between business partners is often a sensitive issue. You started a partnership because you trust and complement each other and with the aim of making money together. You have probably already achieved various successes together and possibly also dealt with a few setbacks together. This has created a strong bond. But now a challenge has come your way that apparently you can’t solve together.

Causes of conflicts

There can be many reasons for a conflict between business partners.

Examples of common situations that lead to a conflict between business partners are a different vision about the future of the company, a possible sale or split of the company, discussion about the commitment and dedication of one of the partners, problems related to work pressure, etc. It may also be that there are unspoken annoyances and sentiments that have been going on for some time and that make it increasingly difficult for the partners to work out together. Mutual trust has been broken and communication has been disrupted.

The mediator brings business partners closer together

A mediator is the ideal person to bring business partners closer together again. This professional has an objective and clear view of the matter and plays a guiding role in the discussions between the business partners. The aim is to reconnect in a pleasant way in order to be able to negotiate with each other about a practical and long-term solution that both parties can agree with. The mediator can also help parties with a written settlement agreement. The advantage of mediation in conflicts between business partners is that it is a more accessible, less time-consuming, and less expensive way of resolving a conflict than through litigation.