partnership pros. & cons knockout

[richard coffman]

I've allways did things myself, but now sence i really want to take off in the business. I'm kinda concerned about the whole partnership thing. I'm sure ya all have had this come up on time or another, but I'm not sure if this is a good step or just a step to disaster. what should i look out for and how can i protect myself if i do decide to go wiith it, or should i put it up as a red flag and tell him that it wouldn't be a good idea, and leave it at that.


thanks,

Richard Coffman/owner
Special Needs Lawn Services
:p

[Guardian]

I started with a partner, but he left 3 months into it. He felt he could do better on his own. He went out of business in August 2000.
I would not dream of having a partner again. When he left, it turned out to be the BEST thing for me. If you are under 100K/Year in sales, then 2 people trying to live off the business is too hard. Not to mention that there's no money for expansion.

If you do it, don't involve a friend. It strains the friendship (to put it mildly). Put EVERYTHING in writing! Decide on a longterm plan together before strinking a deal.

...why do you think you need a partner? to grow? There are plenty of ways to expand w/o one. Money? I would exaust every mean I had before taking on a partner for $$.

[MATTHEW]

If it is a friend or a relative-I say NO WAY!
One of you will certainly end up doing more work than the other one and then the compensation issue will come up. There's not really any way to divide all responsibilities 50/50.

[Ray&Christine]

When I started out I had a partner. Half way through the first season I told him that this is not working out.He took some of our
equipment saying he will pay me for it and of course never did. I guess in some cases partnerships work out fine but I think these cases are rare. You have to have the exact same amount of dedication and work ethic. If it was a hot day my partner said it was too hot to work and went home leaving me to do all the work myself, and of course he still wanted half the the money.
There are pros to having a partner like if you get sick or hurt they could cover for you, and you only need to lay out half the money for equipment etc. But then you only get half the profits.

I would NEVER go into business with anyone again myself. I was lucky I only lost a few hundred dollars. If you do get a partner have a written agreement that includes what happens if you dissolve the partnership.

Ray

[JimLewis]

I guess it depends on your personality. If you like to give in easily and are great at compromising, even when it's your money, business, equipment, customers, relationships, ideas, values, etc. on the line, maybe it would work for you.

Of course, the partner would have to also be as docile in order for it to work.

Otherwise, my advice is to STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM PARTNERSHIPS!!!

But hey, maybe that's just me. :D

[65hoss]

http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=14206&highlight=partnerships

http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=10096&highlight=partnerships

http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=8223&highlight=partnerships

http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=5504&highlight=partnerships

http://lawnsite.com/showthread.php?threadid=5364&highlight=partnerships

Here is some we have had in the past.

Partnerships mean splitting income in half, but doubling the headache. I say alliances work better. Helping others pays off, pulling from the same kitty creates enemies.

[Jason Pallas]

I agree partnerships suck - they almost always end poorly - with one guy doing more work than the other and splitting the profits. Recipe for disaster. Go it alone - it's much easier.

[richard coffman]

thanks for all the replys everyone. I've even read all the past post's (thanks for someone giving me the addy's, thanks), and I got my mind made up, it's just too hard to have a partned if ya allredy independant and strong at it as it is. your right, it's like getting married all over again and not knowing if it would work out or not. I thankful that my wife is so supportive of me and my business, she has one of her own and it's growing like wildfire. I'm so thankful for this web site and ya all, hope in the future that i can make a difference to someone as well, ya sure saved me a lot of gruff.

Richard Coffman/OWNER
Special Needs Lawn Services:D

[cajuncutter]

I was in the same boat. I wanted to grow. A buddy of mine offered to go into it with me. He never tried to get business and seemed to want all the money. We never gained any accounts and he wanted half of what I already had. All I can advise you with is NO!!!!!!!! DO NOT DO IT!!!!! You will lose a friend or have a bitter relationship with a family member. Since I kicked him to the curb all has been well. Have even grown. I sat back and thought about all the equipment I could be buying instead of giving my money away. STAY A WAY..just my 2 cents

[JimLewis]

I think if you would have posted a POLL with this message it would have ended up looking like this;

Are partnerships good? Should I enter into one?
Yes ................................0%
No ||...............................4%
No Way ||||........................10%
F#*@ NO! ||||||||||||||||||||||||| 84%

:laugh:

[Live2ride]

Partnerships, in theory would be great....in reality are like a bad,bad marriage. From my (bad) experience never again a business partnership. example, I got the company bank checking account statement , along with the checks that went through that month. Usually 1 of the other partners did this, but on a hunch i did it. There was a check for 5,000.00 for a down payment on a truck... hadn't discussed or seen the truck. Long story short... asked him if he had been looking at trucks, yep, test drove one he said. Hadn't and wouldn't buy it without mine and other partners ok. So, i told him i have the cleared check for downpayment. He swore it was just to hold the truck, that was hiding in his driveway. ( Plus financed thru company by the way).
The beginning of the end.... sorry for long reply but, just 1 of the many stories i have about partnerships...no more...

[Randy Scott]

Jim, what about the other 2%? :)

[brentsawyer]

rounding errors.lol Looks like an election poll doesn't it.

I wouldn't conceive of entering into a partnership. I was asked three years ago by a friend to enter with one other, even worse. I couldn't imagine having to do 2-3 times the bookkeeping, organizing (more like 10 times with everones schedules) etc. for the same amt of money. And trying to grow would be worse. I would rather hire a qualified employee and give them excellant pay and incentives.

[lawncare]

I'm in a partnership with my friends just took on another 1 this year since both have fulltime jobs im usually the one cutting fulltime. But the way we work it no work no split but if i need monetary help sometimes the put in and we split the profit on that particuliar job. if a truck breaks down and i don't have it right then the fix it and i repay them when the money rolls in. And if they are able to help on the weekends we go for it tally up the money and i pay them the when checks rolls. If they need anything i give it to them. never had a problem with this way with my first partner and i expect the same with this one all child hood friends.:p

[jrblawncare]

Lawncare,love your Equipment list!!!