Eisenberg toils in their former offices, padding around on soft black carpeting, scrutinizing presentations on a $7,000 Japanese coffee table (no nails). For a few months, he called the company The New Eisenberg; lately, he switched it to Eisenberg and Associates, to show his faith in his employees. Not long after the split, he changed his hairstyle, slicking down his unruly curls. "If Cap and I were at a party, we'd shake hands and talk about old times. It hasn't come up recently," he assures. "There's a lingering . . . is the word sadness? . . . I'm the one who instigated getting back together. I wanted it to work out, and it didn't." He pauses. "I think Carol is pretty bitter," he adds. "But I think Cap was as unhappy as I was. He probably wanted out of the situation, too.
"It is real lonely, and it is hard at times," Arthur Eisenberg says. "I wish I knew what he felt."
WAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK
Three steps that could save your partnership
Face it. There's only one way to work out your differences with your partner: get a personality transplant.
At least that's how it can feel sometimes. But instead of allowing your frustration to reach that point, there are several tools you can try -- right away -- to improve communication. It doesn't matter which ones you choose, as long as you stay true to the goal: minimizing emotions in favor of rational thinking.
Here are some formal problem-detection tools:
* Write a Business Plan. Your banker will undoubtedly want a peek at it before lending you any money, but a plan also clarifies your understanding with each other. It forces you to put down on paper, and agree upon, what the business should look like. By checking against it every month, you can discuss difficult issues -- why are production costs so much higher than we expected? -- without resorting to blame.
* Assemble a Board Of Advisers. The logic here is simple: outsiders provide partners with a source of independent and objective input. A well-constructed board can break stalemates, offer valuable advice, and make recommendations on ticklish issues such as salary. In times of genuine crisis -- the death of a partner, say -- the board can steer the business through. There are subtler benefits, too: a board provides a discreet form of accountability for each partner.
* Take a Retreat. Most entrepreneurs focus on success, not relationships; just talk to any entrepreneur's spouse or kids. But even if you keep intending to talk about the more personal aspects of your partnership, it's easy to get waylaid by that presentation that's due on Thursday. Instead, take two days and get beyond topics like boosting sales. Ask each other: Do you feel satisfied with the partnership? Are you happy with my contribution? What do we need to do differently to get along better?
POPPING THE BIG QUESTIONS
What to find out before taking on a partner
It isn't hard to catch the killer of most partnerships. In the end the culprits usually become obvious: the lack of planning up front and the failure to think things through. "The greatest weakness is not that people want to screw each other," says Joe Glover, chief operations officer of a small conglomerate, and Cap Pannell's top adviser. "It's that they don't have clearly defined agendas. Mutual dreams aren't enough."
What follows are some difficult questions that would-be partners need to explore before getting serious about teaming up:
1. What's Our Business Concept? This is a big, broad topic, and sometimes it helps to ask a third party to listen in, just to see if partners are on each other's wavelength. First you need to decide who will make the widgets and who will sell them. Then you need to talk about growth. Are we building the company to sell it, or are we after long-term growth? It's also important to discuss exactly how the business will be run. Do we want participative management, or will employees simply hunker down at machines and churn out parts? "If one guy is a fist pounder with a do-it-as-I-say mentality and the other believes that people ought to feel good about their jobs, that probably represents an irreconcilable difference," says Sam Lane, a Fort Worth consultant who works with partners.
2. How Are We Going to Structure Ownership? It sounds great for two people to scratch out 50-50 on a cocktail napkin and leave it at that. But in practice, splitting the company down the middle can paralyze the business. If neither is willing to settle for 49%, then build some arbitration into your partnership agreement.
3. Why Do We Need Each Other? "I thought it would be much less scary with two of us," says Arthur Eisenberg, explaining his rationale for teaming up with Cap Pannell. That may be so, but bringing on a partner means sharing responsibility and authority. "If you are taking on a partner because you are afraid of going it alone, find some other way to handle the anxiety," advises Mardy Grothe, a psychologist.
4. How Do Our Lifestyles Differ? The fact that one partner is single and the other has a family, for instance, can affect more than just the time each puts in. It may mean that one partner needs to pull more money out of the business. Or it may affect a partner's willingness to take risks with the company. "All of this stuff needs to get talked out," says Peter Wylie, a psychologist who works with Mardy Grothe. "The implications are profound."
