Sometimes, it may feel like being involved your business is like being involved in a family. You and your business partner may not always agree on everything, just as spouses or siblings don’t always agree. You may disagree about what direction your company should take as it expands. You may not agree on who you should hire as your company CFO or human resources director. You even may disagree on each of your roles in running the business.
What if you can’t resolve a partnership dispute? What do you do then?
Here are some steps to take when facing a partnership dispute that is affecting your business:
- Consult your partnership agreement and see if you both are handling the responsibilities you laid out in that agreement or if you need to adjust the duties to make your partnership work better. Consult your business law attorney if you need to update your partnership agreement or renegotiate specific aspects of it.
- Consider bringing in an outside CEO, manager or consultant to evaluate your business and give you and your business partner an outsider’s perspective on how to solve the challenges your business is facing.
- Consider dividing the business, giving each partner a section of the business that makes sense for their interests and skills.
- Consider entering a buy/sell agreement if you can’t resolve your dispute, where one of you buys the other out of ownership of the business.
- Consider selling the business to someone else if you and your business partner decide that is the best direction to take.
With help from an attorney, you can work toward finding a solution for your partnership dispute that works best for you, your business and your partner. Then, you can move forward and work to see your business succeed as its main leader or launch a new business of your own.