Embarking on a business partnership is an exciting venture that is full of shared vision, celebrations of small achievements and new challenges. When everything is good, maintaining a healthy relationship with your business partner is easy. But when complications arise, you and your partner may have serious disagreements.
Partnership disputes can range from minor irks about work ethic to full-blown legal battles about embezzlement accusations. Here are some common disputes that arise among partners and some tips on how to prevent and resolve them.
Operational disagreements
One common way to set up a partnership is with equal co-management. You may intend to make decisions together. But problems can occur, such as your partner not carrying his or her weight.
If something like this happens, you may want to try to reach a resolution. You can accomplish this in various ways, such as redistributing tasks, proposing different salaries or removing the partner as an employee but keeping him or her as a shareholder. Other options include dissolving the partnership or taking the matter to court.
Financial disputes
It is normal for business partners to argue about money. This is especially possible if one person manages the finances while the other handles operations. Suspicions and disagreements can arise when the person in charge of the money makes shady choices. One way to stop this from happening is by establishing clear ownership rules in an operating agreement.
Intellectual property issues
Your company may be based on intellectual property that belongs to one of you. This can be a problem if there is a disagreement over it becoming business property. You can create clear documentation to ensure the person who owns the intellectual property gets to keep it and is only licensing it to the company. If you do not do this, the person who created the property may not get to keep it if the partnership ends.
