CAN YOU NEGOTIATE?: Negotiation has personality, experience and knowledge components. Without the personality for negotiation, and experience in creative negotiation resulting in optimum solutions, your company will not be well served. And without the knowledge of how to approach a particular negotiation, you will not succeed in getting the best deal.

Negotiation is not everyone's strength. But skilled negotiation is key to success at many turning points in a company's development. If your personality, experience and knowledge don't include negotiation, your company is probably better served by bringing in outside help to negotiate.

SHOULD YOU NEGOTIATE?: Even if the skill set of the founders of a company includes negotiation, it is not always in the best interests of the company that a key internal person conduct negotiations. Frequently, a party perceived as more neutral, such as The Haywood Group, can achieve a better outcome, either in combination with one or more founders or by itself.