How do I restructure my business with my partner?

[Lulo_one_south]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to have stumbled upon this thread in such a supportive community!

My partner and I have been collaborating on building a successful online business since last year. Our journey started with affiliate marketing, but after investing a significant amount of money, we faced challenges and realized it wasn't as profitable as we had anticipated.

That's when I decided to pivot to lead generation.

This new model has opened doors to a more scalable business opportunity and the chance to create a valuable asset.

In order to make this transition, I've invested time, effort, and money into acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge based on a proven lead generation model.

Initially, my partner and I agreed that they would cover the costs of advertising and technical resources, while I would handle the operational aspects of the business. We planned to split the profits evenly. However, since moving into lead generation, I've assumed a more specialized role with added responsibilities, prompting me to reassess the fairness of our original agreement.

Given the changes in our business model and my newly acquired specialized skills, I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to restructure our partnership agreement to ensure a fair and equitable deal for both parties in our lead generation venture.

Thank you for your time and support. I'm eager to learn from your experiences and insights.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Your post has been moved into a new thread.

Initially, my partner and I agreed that they would cover the costs of advertising and technical resources, while I would handle the operational aspects of the business. We planned to split the profits evenly. However, since moving into lead generation, I've assumed a more specialized role with added responsibilities, prompting me to reassess the fairness of our original agreement.

Strangers won't be able to answer these questions. Ultimately you need to determine what each partner is bringing to the table. You might be providing sweat equity, but your partner might be bringing a lot of intangibles to the table, such as influence, network, resources, experiential insights, and other things not easily quantified.

 

[Kevin88660]

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to have stumbled upon this thread in such a supportive community!

My partner and I have been collaborating on building a successful online business since last year. Our journey started with affiliate marketing, but after investing a significant amount of money, we faced challenges and realized it wasn't as profitable as we had anticipated.

That's when I decided to pivot to lead generation.

This new model has opened doors to a more scalable business opportunity and the chance to create a valuable asset.

In order to make this transition, I've invested time, effort, and money into acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge based on a proven lead generation model.

Initially, my partner and I agreed that they would cover the costs of advertising and technical resources, while I would handle the operational aspects of the business. We planned to split the profits evenly. However, since moving into lead generation, I've assumed a more specialized role with added responsibilities, prompting me to reassess the fairness of our original agreement.

Given the changes in our business model and my newly acquired specialized skills, I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions on how to restructure our partnership agreement to ensure a fair and equitable deal for both parties in our lead generation venture.

Thank you for your time and support. I'm eager to learn from your experiences and insights.

If I am your partner I would not be too interested to change the agreement until we have achieved some initial success in lead generation.

There is still a lot uncertainty now. If lead generation doesn’t work, are we going to move to something else and change agreement again?

 

[BizyDad]

I'm a big fan of partnerships. Both my businesses are partnerships.

But I'm wondering why you aren't going at the solo? If you're able to acquire the skills, why don't you build your own company, and just hire people to do the things you can't?

 

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[4gus]

For this new venture (lead gen), what is your partner's role? Is it only financial or he is going to help with day to day work?
Are you going to do all the work + contribute financially?

Some scenarios:

• You spend time, effort, money + partner also spend time, effort, money = maybe 50-50?
• You spend time, effort, money + partner money only = Why need your partner? Get loan from bank?
• You spend time, effort + partner provide all money required = can you get loan from bank? or no equity but offer fix return for money partner? or offer less than 50% of equity for the partner?

 

[Lulo_one_south]

Thanks a bunch for sharing your thoughts and advice on this thread!

On one side, our venture's all about cash flow. So, it's super important for us not to run out of money in the middle of this journey!

MJ, you make a good point about intangible assets – they could definitely be the secret sauce that helps our business grow.

I'm considering adding some benchmarks or milestones to our partnership agreement. This way, we can check in every now and then to see how each partner's contributions are stacking up, both tangible and intangible stuff. That should help us fine-tune our arrangement and make sure everyone's getting a fair share for their hard work and investment in the biz, at least in these early stages

I'm a big fan of partnerships. Both my businesses are partnerships.

But I'm wondering why you aren't going at the solo? If you're able to acquire the skills, why don't you build your own company, and just hire people to do the things you can't?

I like your point here... but right now, I'm a freelancer working on transitioning to a larger operation, essentially productizing the services I've been providing to clients. While the idea of going solo is really appealing, the truth is that making this transition successful will require some extra support for the endeavor. ...Maybe my next adventure?

 

[Lulo_one_south]

For this new venture (lead gen), what is your partner's role? Is it only financial or he is going to help with day to day work?
Are you going to do all the work + contribute financially?

Some scenarios:

• You spend time, effort, money + partner also spend time, effort, money = maybe 50-50?
• You spend time, effort, money + partner money only = Why need your partner? Get loan from bank?
• You spend time, effort + partner provide all money required = can you get loan from bank? or no equity but offer fix return for money partner? or offer less than 50% of equity for the partner?

"You spend time, effort + partner provide all money required = can you get loan from bank? or no equity but offer fix return for money partner? or offer less than 50% of equity for the partner?"

I think that less than 50% it's a good option or also fixed returns.

 

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[BizyDad]

Maybe my next adventure?

Well then, it sounds like you should not only be thinking about your partnership as you enter this new phase.

You should also be thinking about what exiting looks like...

Food for thought. Good luck to you. I hope it all goes amicably.