One of the most important aspects of business and any relationship is trust. Not just between vendor and customer but between partners in the business.

When a relationship goes sour and ends we may blame the other person for what they did to ruin the business, relationship or anything else.

But is it possible that you might be partly to blame? You got into business with that person. And you might have missed some red flags.

The first red flag to take note of before getting into business with someone and forming any type of joint venture is punctuality. It might seem like a little thing but is that person on time for the first meeting? This is not to say that accidents don't happen, they do, but the reason this is a red flag is simple. If they can't get organized to honor such an easy commitment, don't trust them to honor a more important one.

Do they allow you and others to state opinions and voice concerns without throwing tantrums? Or does everything always have to be their way? And will they turn every issue that doesn't go their way into a crusade?

Staying in business with this person will negatively affect your work and eventually they'll blame you for all the problems that come up.

If you're the type of person that is always having to have your way the best thing to do is stop acting like that. If you don't people will resent you and give you grief.

Does the person engage in or try to get you into any type of questionable or illegal activity? I was associated with people one time where one left his wallet out on a table and two others were going through it laughing at the pictures. Those two later left and at the end of the night the guy who left his wallet on the table found $150 missing from it. Surprisingly he didn't do anything about it.

The point here though is if someone would steal $150 out of someone's wallet when they're 5 feet away from them what will they do when you're 5 miles away from them?

So if someone you're in business with wants you to engage in illegal activity - a Ponzi scheme for example - run don't walk away and report them. Sooner or later most people get caught with those things and you don't want to go down with the sinking ship.

These are some of the red flags to take note of when you're dealing with people that want to do business with you. Go out and make it a great day.