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#157551 11/28/05 11:33 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 13
T
Member
I waqs wondering how many of you are in partnerships? And pro's & cons. As well as the safe guards that are a necessity. Am looking at an oppurtunity that everything looks good. And it would put me leaps and bounds and open up a world of contacts that would be difficult for me to get on my own. The other individual is a mirror image of the ethics and practices that I hold dear. For right now we would split up the city. Neither one of is greedy which from what i understand is a downfall usually.We are talking about spliting the city. We team up on marketing and leads. draw a line on the city. He gets the small stuff on one side I get the small stuff on the other. And we work together on the bigger ones. I could really use some feedback on this one. Dont hold back!!!!

Thanks

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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 615
J
Member
I was partners with my brother for a couple of years. It worked out pretty well. We split when I decided I wanted to give college a try. Looking back there was alot of unspoken pressure.

I have since opened a seperate company and still work with my brother on different jobs. Sounds pretty similar to what you guys are talking about, except instead of splitting the city, I take my leads, he takes his, and if the job looks more profitable with two men, one pulls the other in.

Would you share insurance, phone number etc.?? On the shared jobs, who would bid and bill, and how whould it get split? Who keeps the name if you two split?

I think it was Tiger's lawyer that said a partnership is like a marriage that you plan the details of divorce first.

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 13
T
Member
We both have nextel grids...He has two phones I have three. Pool the leads split the city share the insurance and hold hands and sing kumbaya on the bigger jobs. Share the leads.

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 13
T
Member
God this is all giving me a headache. My sleazeball employer that im getting ready to leave in 6 months......Is starting to look alright.

Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 615
J
Member
Hey, don't get discouraged yet. To me it sounds like it could be a great opportunity.

Don't think of it as end, but a means to end. Lets say you go for it. Don't look at it as a failure if it doesn't work out. As long as you haven't lost your shirt. That's why careful planning in the begining can pay off in the end.

But it is possible the symbiotic relationship could produce more for both of you than the sum of what each could do alone. I have found that many times with my bro. A job that takes me 2.5 days alone is 1 day with him.

Then there are the less tangible, like the lead that you didn't have time to follow up, that your partner did. Then you get 2 great leads from them. I have countless stories like that.

Sit down with a piece of paper and sketch out specifically what your duties would be, what his would be and how each other would be compensated. Do this more for you own sake...as an exercise to get your thoughts on paper. Then what happens if one puts in more hours than the other? What if one starts to slack under the other? These things are simple when one captian is steering the ship, but with both of you on the wheel you either have to spell it all out for each other or have a real intuition for what the other is thinking. Believe it or not, intution is how my bro & I still do it, but we already have similar DNA, think alike, and know each other vey well. We can work the same project without talking and it is like four hands, almost spooky. I don't expect this to be the case for most.

Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 73
W
Member
This way you won't have to pull your father out of retirement!

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,064
D
Member
The only advise I can offer on partnerships is this:

Everyone must know their role.......

"Too many cooks spoil the soup", so who is the chef?


Dnk.....

Joined: May 2005
Posts: 706
T
Member
Well put Jps1006. I wish I had a brother.

Dave

Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 219
S
Member
Dnkl's right, who is giong to run the show. If its not you...you have to be ok with the other guy making decisions. One partner has to be the leader.

Why not just agree to split the town as you described, keeping your buisness and "joint venture" the large projects. That way if things do not work out you havent' lost much.

Rob

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 13
T
Member
Well Im the more aggresive of the two of us. But when he puts in his two cents. Its pretty sound and well thought out. So its a good balance. And yes we are spliting the city. On service and pairing up on the big stuff.

You guys have thrown some pretty good stuff out there....appreciate it.

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