A confluence of events put me in front of two business partners who hated each other. To make matters worse, they were sisters. 50/50 owners who planned to do everything they could to make a go of their business, now loathed each other.

My job was to fix the business, by fixing them. This is what I did:

I sat them down together and asked them a hypothetical question. I asked them if their father was dying of cancer would their focus change. Of course it would. They would focus on their father, on helping him, on being with him. They would be bonded on something greater than the day to day.

When you can get business partners looking at the greater purpose of their business and their lives, all the day to day nonsense fades to background noise.

I am not suggesting that you and your partner seek dying people to motivate you. But I do know this. If your partnership is struggling, you aren’t in sync on the greater purpose of your business. And I bet you haven’t even discussed it.

To save your business partnership the two (or thee or four) of you need to have a sit down about your personal life’s purposes. Then talk about how all of this plays into your business purpose.

If the purpose is “just to make boat loads of money” your partnership will continue to divide. Money is the reward for purpose, not purpose itself. But if your purpose is as motivating as your love for a family member, your partnership will recover.