ContractStore Legal Business Blog » new business

5 Partnership Considerations to Consider

Fri, 08 May 2009 09:44:52 +0000

There are times when it’s best to go solo and others when you need a team effort to survive. When you’re part of a team, you need to know how to be a good team player, since a team works best when each of the players plays to his strength and complements the strengths of his teammates. When it comes to business partnerships, you’re on a sticky wicket because there are huge sums of money and large amounts of efforts involved. In order to establish a partnership that stands the test of time, you need to consider the following aspects:

The best partners complement each other: The most compatible partners are those who have the same goal and different strengths and expertise in various areas that are needed to achieve the goal. It’s important that your vision for the company be the same – if one person wants to run your organization as a social enterprise while the other wants to rake in the profits, you’re going to be pulling one horse in two different directions.

Clear cut responsibilities help avoid the blame game: A partnership in which clear cut responsibilities are defined help pinpoint the blame when something does go wrong instead of each blaming the other for the fiasco. It also paves the way for proactive measures to be taken so that the problem can be rectified.

Money matters destroy even the strongest of friendships: If you’re going into partnership with a friend or a relative, be warned that money is stronger than blood or friendship. If the partnership does not survive, then you can expect your personal relationship to be strained and affected too, unless both of you are really mature and are able to separate the business aspect of your relationship from the personal side.

It’s best to have a written agreement and an exit strategy: Even the best of friends can turn into the worst of enemies, so don’t depend on mere words, even though they were spoken in good faith, to keep your partnership secure. Draw up a written agreement that delineates each of your responsibilities, profit sharing arrangements, and how your assets will be split in case you decide to call it quits.

Limiting the amount of liability helps in times of trouble: A limited partnership helps you safeguard yourself in case your partner uses your common business to promise things that he or she is not allowed to. It limits your liability in the damage suit that may follow.

ContractStore has several documents to help you set up a solid basis for your partnership, including
A148 Partnership Agreement
A107 Shareholders Agreement.
A complete range of partnership documents is available at http://www.contractstore.com/partnership-and-shareholder-agreements

You can read here a case study about ContractStore customer Luke Hutchison of Southern Solar, who set up his business partnership using one of our documents.

This post was contributed by Alisa Johnson, who writes about the best online MBA schools. She welcomes your feedback at Alisa.Johnson1982 at gmail.com.

ContractStore helps get new business off to a Flying Start

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 10:08:50 +0000

One of our recent customers contacted us for help while creating a bespoke childcare company, Flying Tots Ltd, predominantly to care for the children of airline staff. After carefully researching crew and pilots’ needs over the past year, Sharon Bastien found that airline staff lose out on work due to a lack of childcare. Sharon also discovered that because airline crew work ‘irregular hours’ from day-to-day, they could not be accommodated by most agencies.

So the enterprising Ms Bastien designed a unique company, employing professional, flexible nannies to care for children of airline staff. The company will also serve high-flying career professionals whose work demands ‘out of the norm’ or long hours. Clients use the service on an ‘ad hoc’ basis, as and when needed. The considerable press coverage on the business has been very positive and has generated many enquiries.

Sharon got in touch to share her story about how ContractStore has helped her get the business off the ground:

“I found ContractStore’s website in 2008 and I used it to prepare two contracts, one for the clients who required a nanny, and one for the nannies I employ. I did not anticipate that these contracts would require so many clauses and details, of which I was not even aware. However, I was able to obtain two excellent contracts, perfect for the job that meets all the legal obligations and were great value.

“I am very passionate about excellent customer service inside and outside my business. I felt I was always receiving undivided attention – excellent customer service in fact. Our business relationship has grown and I can recommend anyone to use ContractStore .”

“The specialist services we provide are for working parents, whose job requires them to work a shift pattern. These are parents are experiencing great difficulty with finding childcare when having to attend work, for long periods at a time. Flying Tots, now with the introduction of our service to high career workers and business professionals ‘takes off’ to a flying start.”

Visit the Flying Tots website:www.flyingtots.co.uk

Legal Tips for Business Start-ups: Free download

Mon, 12 May 2008 18:59:55 +0000

ContractStore has just published some free notes on the legal aspects of starting up in business.

The PDF covers company structure, taxes, documents and all those other exciting things we love to think about when starting up.

Click here to download the Guide (It’s an Acrobat PDF file).