Are you currently in a working arrangement with someone based on a handshake agreement?
Or are you thinking of going into a partnership?
We tend to split things 50/50 because we feel that’s a fair starting point.
Unfortunately, many partnerships aren’t true 50/50 arrangements, which can cause big disagreements in the future.
Here are two things you can do when it comes to partnerships:
1. Start from a different split. What would it mean if the arrangement was 74 / 26? Non-round numbers are especially useful in working through how the value could be determined and what would be involved.
2. Turn the dial ever so slightly. What would it mean for the partnership if the split was 51/49? Who would emerge with the majority share? It’s better to have this discussion at the start, because it’s bound to come up later.
You can still decide on a 50/50 split, and it could work out very well.
But it’s worth asking these questions to test your working assumptions.
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