If your potential partner has a pregnant wife or is taking care of an elderly parent, he may be distracted from the business. That's why you have to be brutally honest when thinking of forming a partnership. “The partner can say, 'My wife is behind me 100 percent.' But I want to talk to the wife," Phibbs says. “If they're too distracted by a family issue or their family isn't behind them, the business may be doomed from the start."