There are some points in a partnership, which can be life or death to the partnership.

First consideration would be, do all partners have the same goals? To be successful, all partners need to share the same game plan. Where are we going and how do we get there?
The partners need to set goals that will meet the needs of both. Goal setting is a major concern.

It is important to set up a structure that uses the top skills and knowledge of all partners. If no one can sell the product, and all partners are building lots of them, how will income and sales happen? There needs to be a few strengths in each partner to meet the goals.

IF there are 2 partners, then someone might say, split the work 50/50. Also, here are split decision making the same etc. But in the future, this kind of split ends up in dead issues. There is no one to break the tie. The contract needs to include a section dealing with a 3rd party to arbitrate in major disagreements. Many legal counselors advise 51% and 49% based on the rules setup by the partners.

Partners should meet regularly, like once a month, to evaluate the progress.
Some topics for these monthly meetings could include:

• Talk about issues and concerns from all partners. There are some items sensitive to one person, but not to the other. It is important this is communication and not a battlefield.


• Talk out the roles all partners agreed to, when beginning. How is each partner holding up his or her end?


• This is time for some good constructive criticism. Perhaps a better word would be progress report.

Another important phase of this plan is to set up a partnership agreement. Sadly, this is a time when lawsuits often happen.. The legal practitioners make a living by getting you to sue each other. So a good contract helps avoid this expense and sad experience.

Word of mouth and a handshake are 100 years ago. Now it's what is in fine print and signed, sealed and delivered terms of a contract.

Beside the above point, the contract itself should consider:

1. How much equity does each owner have?
2. What type of business are the partners planning?
3. How will the profits and losses be split up?
4. What is the partner's income or salary or commission etc?
5. How will the assets be divided up, if the partnership fails?
6. What will be the terms of a breakup if it is inevitable?
7. How will disputes be resolved?
8. How will the partnership be ended if one neither dies nor becomes incapacitated?
9. What are the restrictions on the authority of each partner?
10. How long should the partnership last?

There are licenses, which are needed in most states. There are federal and state tax numbers needed. What is the name of the company? Is it the partner's names all strung together or will someone set up a DBA - doing business as - a chosen name unique to the company?

It is recommended that a lawyer draw up a partnership. In some states, there are retired businesses men who are willing to assist new companies get started. They are usually senior retired persons well educated and skilled in about any company. Their time is most often at no cost. It's well to ask them questions - all partners to be in attendance. Ignorance is not bliss, when the partnership goes bad and a lot of hard feelings come to the surface, and fighting not working, is the result.

These are tips that you can follow in order to draw up a partnership agreement for a home business. Therefore following these steps should make the process easier all the way around.