Before You Start
A partner is one of the largest decisions in a business, and often the least discussed
People who start with a friend, a relative or a former colleague can find it the best decision or the worst. The difference is often not the person but whether they have talked about money, time, roles and leaving before there is anything to argue over. This session is about those conversations.
Explore this page6 sections
Partnerships rarely end over strategy. They end over things nobody said aloud.
People often choose a co-founder because they get on, or because it feels lonely to start alone. Both are reasons to consider a partner and neither is enough to choose one. A good friend can be a difficult business partner, and an unlikely partner can be an excellent one.
Problems usually come from unspoken assumptions: who works how many hours, who puts in how much money, who decides what, who gets what if it works, and what happens if one person wants to leave. Each is easy to discuss on day one and painful later.
This session is not legal advice. It sets out the conversations to have, and says when to take them to a lawyer.
Questions to settle, in roughly this order
35 topics across 7 areas. Seven conversations, from whether you need a partner to what happens if it ends.
Do You Need One?A partner solves some problems and creates others.5
- What can you not do alone: build, sell, run operations, bring in money?
- Could you hire, outsource or contract that instead?
- Are you looking for a partner or for company?
- What are you prepared to share: control, profit, decisions?
- What would starting alone cost you?
What Do You Need From Them?Different from liking them.5
- Skills that complement yours, not copy them
- Contacts or customers that you do not have
- Money, if it is to be put in, and how much
- Time: full-time, part-time, or from a future date
- A way of working that you have seen in practice
If possible, work with a person on something small before committing to something large.
The Uncomfortable QuestionsBetter asked now than in a dispute.5
- How much money can each of us afford to lose?
- What does each of us need to earn, and from when?
- What happens if one of us gets a job offer, falls ill or marries and moves?
- How do we feel about borrowing or bringing in an investor?
- What does each of us want this business to be in five years?
Roles and DecisionsWho does what, and who has the last word.5
- A clear owner for each area: customers, money, operations, product
- Which decisions need both of you and which do not
- What happens when you disagree: a process, not a hope
- Titles, and what they mean to customers and staff
- A regular meeting to review how it is going
Money and OwnershipThe conversation most often avoided.5
Many partnerships split ownership equally to avoid an awkward conversation. That can be right, and can be the first thing people regret. Ask an adviser to explain the options for your structure.
- How ownership is divided, and why that way
- Whether ownership is earned over time or fixed on the first day
- Who contributes what in cash, work or assets, and how each is valued
- Salaries or drawings, and when they begin
- What happens to profits: paid out, or put back
Writing It DownA friendship survives an agreement more easily than a dispute.5
- A partnership deed, an LLP agreement or a shareholders' agreement, depending on the structure
- Roles, time commitments and decision rights
- Ownership, contributions and what happens if one is not made
- How a partner can leave, and how their share is valued and paid
- What happens in a deadlock, or on the death or incapacity of a partner
Have a lawyer draft or review it. A template from the internet may not fit your structure or your state.
When It Is Not WorkingPlanning for the part nobody wants to plan for.5
- Signs that expectations have drifted apart
- A conversation held early, with an agenda, not in a quarrel
- Bringing in a third person whom both trust
- A fair way for one partner to buy out the other
- Closing the business cleanly, with the customers and money taken care of
Common mistakes with co-founders
- Choosing a partner for friendship alone
- Splitting ownership equally without discussion
- Starting with no written agreement
- Assuming equal commitment of time and money
- Avoiding the conversation about leaving
- Bringing in relatives without clear roles
What participants leave with
- A decision on whether they need a partner
- A profile of what they need from one
- A list of questions to ask a prospective partner
- An outline of roles, money and time to take to a lawyer
- A date by which the agreement will be signed
How the session runs
Two or three founders describe working with partners: those who started with a friend, a relative or a colleague, and those who started alone. They say what they agreed in advance, what they did not, and what happened. Participants then work through the questions on their own situation, in pairs where two people have come together. Evening or weekend sessions, in person or online. Speakers describe their own experience, and no arrangement is presented as the right one.
What your students leave with
- A way to decide whether you need a partner at all
- A list of what you actually need from one: skills, money, contacts, time
- A set of questions to ask before committing, including the uncomfortable ones
- A written outline of roles, time, money and decision rights
- An understanding of why ownership and exit need to be written down
- Knowing when a lawyer should draft the agreement
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Have the awkward conversation while it is still easy.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.