I have never been a fan of having partners. You have all of the responsibility of what they do in the business whether it is good or bad for the business. Wrapped up in an S-Corp gives you some protection, but I have seen too many go bad.
But now I myself and a client want to get other businesses started and are looking for people who have the skills necessary to be the lead for those businesses.
My client is looking for an animator, they have someone in mind, but the minimum salary requirements are a drawback. Not many startups have the funds to get the business off the ground and ensure that there is enough for a FTE professional readily available.
For myself, I have three businesses in mind. For the first, I need a partner who holds a special license. I have talked to some clients with the skills, but they are at the end of their career and are not interested in getting something started at this point in their career. The others I have talked to were acquaintances, they expressed some interest but I was not able to get them to perform a simple task to prove interest. So I still have the idea, but can’t get started, for lack of a partner.
A second idea I have would involve a capital outlay, but I need a partner with multi-lingual skills and some specific skills along with a mechanical proficiency. I have done little work on this one. It requires a real trust, for the capital outlay.
The third is just at the beginning stages of an idea. This one needs the correct location more than anything else. It is a small restaurant, based on a limited but special gourmet menu. I am thinking of the original McDonalds or Checkers concept, few items for more efficient service. Here I would need someone with a passion for concept. Also with the failure rate of restaurants, the partner would have to be willing to commit capital as well. This is still a rough idea with only a general outline of a business plan.
So I am now conceding the need for a partner in certain circumstances. But decisions will need to be made at the outset, which party will be responsible for what duties. What are the punishments for failure to perform ones duties? How will the break-up be determined?
But the right people need to be found, the personalities need to mesh, otherwise there will be chaos from the onset.