First, let’s discuss the good news. Forming a partnership from members with complementary skills can be a great way to ensure that you have the skill set necessary to create a very successful business. For example, if you were starting a graphic design firm, having an expert graphic designer and an expert marketer would give you a powerful combination for attracting a very large market share. On the other hand, two graphic designers might be better of running their own business rather than going into partnership, unless they specialized in certain areas different from the other.

The basic rule of a legal business partnership is while there are certain things the business is able to do as a legal entity such as making purchases, the individual members are still taxed separately and are both liable for the company’s debts. That is a very important thing to remember when entering into partnership. Drafting a legally binding and fair partnership agreement can be quite complicated, and many would be well advised to seek out the services of a competent business lawyer to draft such a document for them before entering into partnership.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when one member of a partnership dies, the business can no longer continue onward. If one owner wishes to continue operating, he must legally dissolve the business and start a new one; either with a new partner or create a sole proprietorship.

However, despite these potential drawbacks, the truth remains that two heads are better than one. Working in a partnership creates discussions and complimentary skill sets that frequently create businesses that are much more successful than many individually operated businesses.

Another great thing about a partnership is the ability to share and distribute the workload. If you are the only employee of your business, when you get sick or are injured your business can suffer greatly, if not shut down altogether. When you have a partner, however, you can keep the business running; even if it is somewhat difficult, it should be possible. That is a very valuable thing because, unfortunately, life has a way of interrupting our business plans many times over with unexpected events and a partner can be very useful for shouldering some of the work when these sorts of things crop up at the last minute.

Finally, the other advantage to starting a business with a partner is the increased potential startup capital. It takes money to make money and, with two members pooling their resources, it is often possible to start a business with a much lighter debt load than someone starting on their own may encounter. This makes it much easier to turn a business into something that is profitable in much shorter periods of time.

3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."