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Women in Business Forming Partnerships
By | December 19, 2008
Do you work your business with another person who is an equal owner? Then you are probably functioning as a partnership.
A business partnership is a business with more than one owner that is not legally organized as a sole proprietor or corporation. Working in a partnership structure has pros and cons. As a business consultant I’ve always told people a business partnership is a like a marriage; you don’t really know what you’re getting into until the marriage begins.
Here are some of the pros:
- Partnerships can be a way to share expenses of the business
- You can share duties.
- You can work to your strengths and bring in a partner that has strengths you don’t have
- A partner can cover for the other person when needed.
Here are some cons
- Partners may not always see eye to eye about how to run a business.
- There might be disagreements on how to divide the profits.
- A business plan should be developed by all of the partners involved so you each knows the growth plan
Partnerships can be difficult to dissolve. For instance, if your partner passes away, their spouse or other family member may decide to work in the business with you. If that person doesn’t know the business or you don’t get along it could cause a lot of problems.
Creating a partnership means drawing up legal partnership agreements that outline how the partnership will work, how it will be dissolved and how profits (or deficits) will be shared.
A partnership can be a great way for women to start a business if it’s done correctly from the start. See if your personality and business model works in harmony with another person before starting your partnership.
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