subject: Partnership In Business Is Like Marriage [print this page] Do you believe that two heads are better than one? Then having a partner in business is ideal. According to wiki, partnership may be thought of as an association of two or more persons who carry on a business as co-owners with the intent of making a profit. A partnership may be established by oral or written agreement. Its assumed to exist when theres a clearly perceived intention to be partners, when theres co-ownership and community of interest in the business, and when theres sharing of profit and loss.
You may enter into a partnership simply by talking it over with an acquaintance or a friend and agreeing to go into business together like a print online blog, specializing in custom printing, shop online boutique, gadgets, and etc. However, this way of doing it has some dangers as the partnership is such a close relationship that its almost like a marriage. A new business, like a new marriage, almost always goes through difficult periods. Because your partner or partners are human beings, subject to differences of opinion and emotional responses to trying situations, its most important that the partnership agreement be spelled out in detail before the business starts. There are several issues and reviews that you can print online to give you an idea of how it is to have a partner in business. I suggest that you read some key points on how small business partnerships fail so that you will have an idea on how to avoid those when it happens.
It is of utmost importance that you carefully consider two aspects of your intended partnership:
Choose your partner or partners with great care. It is more likely that you will be choosing your best friend from grade school, high school or college; your closest cousin, or aunt as your partner in business. Rarely would you choose your officemates having the same interest or the same passion with the kind of business you have in mind. Just make sure you can get along well together under difficult circumstances, and that you can work through differences and come to a satisfactory agreement. Make sure you both agree that emotion is out of the business and all the things that should be taken into consideration; and what the priority is would be the main concern of the business. Every decision must be agreed upon by both parties before implementing them.
Get expert legal help. It is best to consult an expert in legally in setting up the partnerships. This means you should put into writing in a binding form the responsibilities of the partners and the ways in which foreseeable problems are to be solved or decisions made when these problems arise. Whatever the rules stated in the written policy must be strictly observed and followed by both parties. Similar with the rules applied in the office, employees must be oriented so that they will be aware of what are the dos and donts in conducting a business.
Your objective should be that of a proactive management. You should anticipate contingencies with your partner or partners. Then you should agree on how they are to be handled to produce results that can be considered fair by both. These procedures should then be put in a legally binding document prepared with the guidance of your attorney. In this way, all partners will have foreknowledge of their rights and obligations. You and your partner or partners will be able to put your energies into making the business properly conducted without draining any of your energies when unavoidable disputes arise in the future.
