Have you and your business partner been disagreeing? Even though you share your goals of growing and maintaining a successful, profitable business, it’s understandable if you don’t always see eye to eye on the best way of achieving that.
Partnership disputes in businesses tend to fall into three major categories. Read on to find out what they are and the best methods for solving and preventing each type of dispute.
1. Disagreements about money
How much should you pay your employees? If you’re selling a product or a service, what should your price point be? Should you prioritize high quality or low production costs? What if your partner embezzles money from the company or accuses you of doing so? Can you cut corners on any of your expenses? How should profits be distributed among shareholders?
These are all issues that could come up between you and your business partner. You can handle these types of issues by making sure you have clear roles. Delineate who is in charge of making financial decisions. Try to make a plan for how disagreements will be resolved before the issues come up. If your partner is stealing from your company, speak to a lawyer right away.
2. Disagreements about operations
Maybe you and your partner don’t agree on how day to day operations of the company need to be structured. Again, having clear boundaries regarding roles can help prevent this from happening. But if it does, you may need to bring in a third party, such as your investors, to help with decision making.
3. Disagreements about intellectual property
What if your business hinges on an invention created by your partner, but they want to leave the company and stop letting you use their intellectual property. Is this intellectual property considered their personal property or company property? You will need to consult your documentation and licensing to be sure about who owns what. If problems still exist once this information has been uncovered, it’s best to consult a business litigation attorney.
At Pence Law Firm, P.C., we have extensive experience navigating complicated business partnership disputes of all types. Our goal is to help our clients obtain practical and constructive outcomes, whether it’s through peaceful negotiation or litigation in court. If you need help with your business partnership, give us a call at (918) 367-8505.
