Welcome back to the ProfitSchool podcast Business Unfiltered with Mercer and Jeff Sauer. Today's topic is Mergers and Partnerships - Our Perspective After 12 Months.

• After 12 months of partnership, Jeff and Mercer share honest insights about their business merger, including the importance of pre-partnership relationships and testing compatibility through smaller projects.

• They emphasize how specialization has been key to their success, with clear divisions of responsibility allowing each partner to lead in their areas of expertise while remaining flexible in overlapping domains.

• Both partners acknowledge the challenging learning curve of their first year, including managing expectations, having difficult conversations, and creating new systems that work for everyone.

• The transition from individual thinking ('I') to collective decision-making ('we') proved essential, with both partners learning to understand and respect each other's perspectives.

• Creating a new brand rather than merging existing ones helped establish a fresh culture that combined the best elements from both partners' previous experiences.

• Continuous communication and expectation adjustment are crucial to maintaining a healthy partnership.