My friend wants to start business together

[George9]

It is very likely that me I my good friend will establish new company together, but there is one thing that I am annoyed about.

 

We are already working together in two other projects, but from from what I've learned is that he is very enthusiastic in the beginning, but later on I need to push him to complete tasks...otherwise I end up doing all work. The strange thing is that when he works on his personal projects he is way more reliable and responsible.

 

Since the company will require monetary investment I don't experience same old behavior from him.

 

I would appreciate to hear your thoughts and what would be the best way to handle it.

[Els]

That sounds like a terrible basis for a partnership.

[George9]

That sounds like a terrible basis for a partnership.

 

So you're saying that there is no way that he could put all energy into the our business as he does with his personal projects/ freelancing?

[ChatroomHero]

I went through it and it gets very rough with the wrong partner. I would never do it if I had any concern in the least for work ethic or dependability and I would never do it if my partner did not bring something crucial to the table that I could not provide. If it is about money there are a lot of ways around that without entering in to a partnership.

 

 

If you incorporate, do not do it unless you keep the majority of shares. You absolutely must have it clearly written out how you can exit the company, and under which conditions and how you can buy your partner out. It is crucial.

 

 

Based on experience I would never do it unless I was incapable of doing all the work myself, ignoring time constraints because you can always sub-contract. If he worked on applications you did not know, that is one thing. If he is just someone to divide up a project with you, you do not need a partner. On top of that, if I had any inkling that I would have to push him even .00001% of the time it would be an absolute deal breaker.

 

 

Think about stuff like- You could be working 95 hours a week and stressing deadlines and he could be putting in 40 hours for a while and then just peeter off on a project and you and him might get paid the same if he was a partner, yet you end up having to work 110 hours a week to finish his part while he takes a few days off.

 

 

Or if you take him on and it doesn't work and say you have medium sized $120K project on the table, while you are pushing him out he would have a lot of power in court etc., you could end up losing the project, having to try to delay it, maybe completing it 3 years later and getting sued by him over the revenue...it is a whole host of life wrecking issues you have to deal with so any thought that he might not be the perfect partner, I would nix it entirely.

Edited December 2, 2016 by ChatroomHero