Whether business or personal, no relationship succeeds without trust.

Trust is the cornerstone of any great relationship. There are plenty of other important ingredients, but trust rules them all.

Trust is especially important when first starting a business. You’ll rely heavily on your business partners to do their share and more. You’ll trust them to do what they need to do in order for the business to get rolling. At such an early stage, if there’s no trust, you might as well pack up and go home.

And where does this trust come from?

It’s tough to say. Trust is something you feel intrinsically, but it’s also earned. When first starting a business, there may not be any prior working relationship between the partners, so there may not have been any opportunity to earn trust. You might have been friends, but the trust gained through friendship isn’t always the same as the trust you need in business.

You can get to know your partner before going into business, but until everyone’s feet are in the fire, you can’t be certain if they’re trustworthy.

So you go with your gut. It’s scary, and risky, but ultimately very few businesses succeed without partners. You need them to bring complimentary skills, leverage their network, and share your dream. And you trust they’ll do all those things.