Business Partner advice needed

Don't do it if you can help it. You have got it this far and his investment is taking a chunk of your past efforts and you lose all control of what you built up with them. Also, what has his 3hr contribution brought in so far? What type of business is it that you have spent so much time on that still isn't bringing you an income by now even though you cannotcope with the workload? ie is there really a business here?

Hi Clarab, feel your pain, but I'm baffled why you would release 50% equity for a partner that can only give you 3 hours per week, and seem intent on giving away further equity? It's easy to give away in the beginning, and very expensive to get back!

Do you have any agreements in place that you can fall back on, anything in the articles of association that define the directors roles?

Potential is always enormous in theory. If you can genuinely prove it and put a cohesive business plan together, then there is no reason why a bank would refuse you a small business loan, even in this climate.

But it sounds like you have given away 50% of your hard earned business to someone who doesn't have the same level of passion. Be honest, tell him its end game and threaten to fold.

If you genuinely think this is a viable business and the bank manager agrees, then is maybe buying out your partner an option? Chuck him a couple of grand to go away ?

I don't understand why you have given away 50% of the business to someone who's contribution is 3hrs per week compared to your 112hrs per week. Both of your imputs to the business need to be on equal footing, either your in it together or your not. If your already jostleing for more of a stake of the business at such stage then I can't see it going anywhere. I think at the very least you should have kept the majority shareholding even if he did a 40hr week. Must admit I did think several times about taking on a business partner, only to be put of by the thought that it has been my hard graft over the last 15 years or so and it is me that has taken the financial risks.

I released 50% equity because the cashflow was a problem and it was the only way I could get someone to buy in. Our outgoing expenses are very high and I have now put in place procedures to reduce the outgoing costs dramatically.

I'm the CEO and supposed to be on a wage which is why he won't put in any time to the business. Even though I'm not getting paid.

The business is a consulting business in a specialised field and I have been inundated. Admittedly I didn't expect it to take off this fast and so didn't have everything in place. My long hours are spent trying to look after the 30 odd clients I have. It is mainly administrative work that needs to be done and lots of follow up phone calls to them to keep them on track with their paperwork during the process.

For instance, my printing costs alone for the past 6 months have been $20,000 though he won't agree to me getting a printer to do it at an eight of that cost in house.

Thanks for the feedback. It is a going concern and it can only get bigger. Somehow, seeing you all saying a similar thing makes me realise I have been taken advantage of. It is my passion and my life and he doesn't have that. This is just a way for him to make an investment.

His 3 hours a week is valuable in that he has now got us to Number 1 on goodle adwords but that's about the level of his contribution. The other time he spends is having me do financial and marketing reports every week so we can see where we stand.

The other thing is I'm the one with all the knowledge of a very complicated process. I've spent the best part of 12 months learning everything about what I'm offering my clients and there's no-one else who has the amount of knowledge I've learned. I guess it's my biggest playing card.

People dont get you to Gogle No. 1 on Adwords - the amound you pay does (apart from some good adwords campaign set up and management that means it costs you less of course). But you could have paid someone to do that just the same and kept 100% of your business. He is taking advantage of you and that is not someone to be in partnership with.

You still don't explain why after 18 months you are not getting much money int the business yet you are very busy with clients and you describe it as "taking off". I just get the feeling a bit of info is missing here.

Ok, sell the business to your partner or fold it.

Lick your wounds, learn your expensive lessons and start again. You have the client list and the knowledge so your "partner" can't copy you.

Agree with Indizine, it sounds like something is missing. Can't believe you have handed over 50% for an adwords campaign? Trust me, whatever your business is, anyone can soon get you displaying adverts via PPC, in fact give yourself a crashcourse, so can you, it's not complicated.

If you have a client list and are inundated with work, then I don't understand why you need to spend so much on printing? If it's related to the consultancy for the client, then factor it into the cost that the client pays.

Be interesting to hear how this pans out for you.

The other thing I'd say is that your experience is yet another illustration of why everyone needs to put so much time and effort into choosing the right partners.

I speak as the only remaining active member of a group of what were originally 5 Directors (some of whom pulled out because they wanted to retire). The relationships between us all as individuals have stayed good but there was a difference in position between those of us who wanted to be merely a group of collaborating professionals and those who wanted to be a unified company. We couldn't reach agreement on this point and it was central to our ability to work together.

Yes, you

Share the same sentiments as Steve here. Did you not have an argeement set in place to begin with? Can't comment on whether you do or not but having an agreement set out on the what each partner contribute etc could have helped in a scenario such as this.

Steve in regards to the threatening to fold that could be something which may not work out; what happens if his bluff is called?