Even when our ultimate goal is the same, the paths we envision to reach it often diverge. This can lead to disputes, especially among co-founders or key stakeholders. While collaboration is meant to fuel growth, if there is a breakdown of trust in the relationship it has a huge impact on your ability to scale and move the business forwards without resolving the issue.

These situations don't occur overnight, but a minor misunderstanding can quickly snowball into a complete breakdown of trust. If left unchecked, this can cause huge amounts of frustration as well as missed opportunities, and potentially stagnation in the business. 

So, how do you handle a situation where conflicting business interests are limiting your growth? In my experience, transparency is one of the most powerful tools for rebuilding trust and paving the way for positive growth.

Why building trust is crucial to handling conflict in business relationships

When many coaches talk about ‘transparency’ and ‘building trust’ in businesses, they have a habit of bundling it together with honesty and integrity. But, being transparent in your business is about more than just speaking the truth. It's about sharing information openly, addressing underlying concerns, and creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable discussing sensitive matters without fear of retaliation or being pressured into a decision they’re uncomfortable with. 

When you’re transparent with your business partner or stakeholders, you’re essentially giving them a window into your thought processes and expectations. This openness encourages collaboration and accountability, building trust through inclusiveness.

A lack of transparency on the other hand can lead to misunderstandings, frustration and even conflict. Your business partner might feel blindsided by decisions or notice you holding back on key concerns, which eventually wears down the trust between you. And, without trust, neither you nor the business can operate at their best. 

In business, trust isn’t just a feel-good concept - it's essential for growth. When partners trust each other, they’re more willing to take risks, innovate and make decisions that benefit the business as a whole. Transparency ensures you’re aligned not only on your goals but also on how to get there. 

The top areas where trust breaks down between partners in businesses

In many cases, trust breaks down when entrepreneurs shy away from difficult conversations and stop being transparent in their actions or motivations. Some of the most common causes for this are: 

These actions rarely come from a place of malice in a business partnership. The individual often believes they are actually protecting the other by holding back information or giving an edited version of the truth. When this behaviour is picked up on though, it will immediately erode any trust previously held.

How trust can be used to improve business relationships

It’s not easy to admit when a relationship is strained or you’re holding back information that could be crucial to moving forward. But once it's been brought to the forefront, breakthroughs can happen. 

I was working with the co-founder of a tech scaleup near Bristol. Their business was at the beginning of a period of huge growth and investment but, from our first call, it was clear there wasn’t a lot of trust in the co-founder's relationship. It wasn’t that they were on totally different pages about where they were heading with the business, they just had very different ideas about how they were going to achieve that goal. 

When this co-founder first reached out to me, their initial conversation was about “How do I make sure that I get X, Y, and Z to happen to get the business to where it needs to be, when they want A, B and C to happen?”. Decision-making had turned into a competition. And, although both had the best interest of the business at heart, both partners were going behind the other's back to avoid any conflict their differing managerial styles might cause. By doing this, they were rapidly eroding the trust they had built in their relationship. It’s hard enough to scale a business without the employees being pulled in different directions. On top of that the stress, frustration and anxiety meant neither were excited for Monday mornings.

So, how do you rebuild trust in business relationships like this?

For this partnership, we took some counter-intuitive steps. The only way to get their co-founder on board with their approach was to be totally transparent in their decision-making process so that their partner was confident and trusted the motives for their actions. To do this, we worked with one of the partners to establish the relative importance of the business being run his way, versus the importance of the relationship.

Without the co-founders’ relationship working, it was unlikely the business would thrive let alone be a great place to work. We flipped priorities. Put your relationship with your co-founder first. Do everything you can to enhance the relationship and build trust. Make the success of your co-founder's ideas the priority. Concerns are to be raised in a transparent way that brings relevant information to the table.

Relatively quickly, the other co-founder began to reciprocate. Over time, this strengthened the relationship and re-established collaborative working practices.  has reinforced the feeling that they have each other's backs in this relationship, allowing them to rebuild trust so that the business can thrive. 

Is a lack of trust impacting your business's success?

Transparency isn’t just about solving conflicts. It’s a powerful strategy that can transform how you operate, make decisions, and drive your business forward. If trust issues are stifling your progress, addressing the lack of transparency head-on is crucial. With the right mindset and support, open communication can rebuild even the most strained relationships, unlocking new opportunities for growth and success.

If you're ready to elevate your entrepreneurial journey, check out my short video on the Star Performer Blueprint, a performance framework designed to help entrepreneurs excel. This framework covers the 7 key competencies for high performance and will teach you how to: