The Achraf Hakimi Partnership: 3 Lessons To Learn on The Importance of Setting Up Structures

Over the weekend, the internet went agog with the story of Achraf Hakimi, 24 years old Moroccan professional footballer, who’s married to Hiba Abouk, his 36 years old Tunisian wife.

Read more about Business

The Paris Saint-Germain full-back, Achraf Hakimi has a reported net worth of $24 million and 80 per cent of which is controlled by his mother, Mrs Fatima, as was claimed amid the footballer’s divorce from actress Hiba Abouk.

Achraf Hakimi and his wife, Hiba Abouk have been on the verge of separation as the Paris Saint Germain full-back is at the moment being investigated, having been charged with rape.

However, the 24-year-old’s lawyer and representative, Fanny Colin, has denied all the accusations against his client.

Hakimi and his wife have been estranged for some time and have been working towards separating legally before the reported rape case.

Different individuals in different fields have weighed in on the conversation and everyone definitely has something to say. You probably do too. While we don’t know the facts and truth of the entire story, here are 3 lessons I believe we should learn from them and apply to our businesses and lives when it comes to getting into any type of  partnership

Marriage is supposed to be a partnership relationship hence the angle to decode partnership lessons from their story. The bedrock of any activity that will grow and be sustainable is to put the necessary structures in place.

We live in a global world and the dynamics of sustainable success are changing. Taking a closer look at the concept of creative collaboration, for example, we have heard about the positive statistics and outcomes when people choose to collaborate as one of the major ways to forge ahead in any field of industry.

There are a lot of advantages and disadvantages when it comes to forming any type of partnership in this era. While there is a huge opportunity to combine resources, and skillsets for a greater goal to be achieved, if the right structure is not in place or is ineffective, everything ends up falling apart and one of the people in the partnership gets to feel the brunt of it the most.

Sign up for the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter

If you are considering getting into collaborations or partnerships, here are 3 things to consider:

• Communication & Shared Values Structures

One of the most important aspects of any good partnership is shared short-term and long-term values. Partnerships are similar to marriage. You need to have shared values and commit to communicating with one another through all of the ups and downs of running your business/work. This doesn’t mean you have to agree on everything but too many disagreements can hurt the relationship over the long term.

• Money Management Structures

The goal of any partnership is to make a profit, depending on what profit means in your particular case, so it’s important to outline how you plan to manage the financial profits that are expected. This can be tough for some people but it’s important to talk through your ideas about money from the start.

Here are a few things to questions to ask in a money conversation:

• Will both partners contribute personal income toward growing the organization?
• Are you comfortable taking on debt?
• How will you manage the business finances?
• Once you start generating a profit, will you take a salary or focus on reinvesting?

• Partnership Dissolution Structures

On the Hakimi issue, someone opined that the woman must have filed for a divorce with the intention to take all his money because this was not a situation alien to footballers and their wives. We may not know how true this is but life happens and even the best partnerships probably won’t last forever

When the time does come for a partnership to end, it is important to have decided and documented how you’ll handle partnership dissolution from the start when both parties are in a good place relationally. 

Within this decision will be conversations around compensation for their time, resources, and involvement.

Register to attend the CN Business Mixer

Take some time to discuss the different scenarios that could happen and how you would handle them. This will give you the best chance to end your partnership on amicable terms and in a way that’s best for the relationship going forward.

When necessary structures are not put in place and communicated, growth and profit are difficult to attain. However, when the right structures for your work are put to work, abuse is minimal and the parties involved may not need to become enemies at the thought of a dissolution.

While we would not take sides with whether Hakimi was right to give his mother 80% control of his assets instead of the wife, one thing is clear, consciously or unconsciously he had set up a structure that would be beneficial to him without communicating it to his estranged wife. However,  the goal of setting up structures goes beyond just getting immunity for self but for everyone involved in the supposed transaction or relationship.

Featured Image Source: Daily Post NG

Did you find this article useful? Contact us: editor@connectnigeria.com