Partnerships are a very funny thing...

We form partnerships generally to either overcome some stumbling block we encounter on our own or to produce a force more powerful than any of the parnership entities were before the partnership.

However the partnership comes about, one thing is CERTAIN:  Without defined expectations, someone is going to be disappointed.

So why do partnerships fail?  Lots of reasons but the biggest reasons seem to fall into the following categories:

1. GREED--yep, good old greed has killed many a partnership that was apparently doing fine.  I've never been particularly greedy; I generally put my own needs subservient to the needs of the partnership.

2. Dishonesty--when one or more partners are not operating with the best interests of the partnership, this can cause a lot of issues. SIMPLY INTOLERABLE as far as I'm concerned.

3. Lazy--sometimes one or more partners becomes lazy and doesn't pull their share of the load.

4.  Ethics and morality-- sometimes the partners realize that they are not on the same page when it comes to standard operating procedure, ethics and morality.  Personally, this one is huge for me.  If my partners are not of the same moral fiber as I believe myself to be,  then they won't be partners for long. 

5. Shame--Sometimes people are ashamed of the partnerships they create and THAT can kill a partnership.  I worked with an agent several years ago that was ashamed of the partnership/team he joined and his production fell.  He had to leave the partnership just to get back to old production levels!

What is startling to me is that people can be acquaintances, friends and co-workers for years and yet never see the traits that could lead to the downfall of a partnership.  When that happens, the results are often more devastating than normal because of the level of trust previously built that ends up betrayed.

So what would I recommend to avoid the "PARTNERSHIP PITFALL"?  Some would say DON'T DO IT!  I don't think that is the answer.  However, it IS necesarry to do a few things IN CASE the partnership goes south:

1. Have defined expectations

2. Have a legally defined partnership.  This may be an LLC or just a registration under a business license.

3. Have a formal declaration on how proceeds are split.  Wow, can't say enough about this one...

4. Have either the partnership name on every document and contract or have all parties in the partnership be on the contract.  In some cases, only one party name is used and in a legal contract, that person can be the one who ends up with all the benefits to the detriment of the other partners.  I know from the real estate side of this that purchase contracts and listing agreements can and SHOULD have all partner names on it in order to avoid disputes when payday comes.  If only one partner is on the contract, that person can seemingly just claim the entire paycheck.  When a partnership goes bad, the non covered party may have worked for months on transactions and deals and then not get paid for their work.  DEVASTATING!

Here is another thing that amazes me...when these people get away with this stuff,  do they have NO conscience? 

How is it that they disappear, like a thief in the night and then pop up somewhere else to cause more mischief and misdeeds elsewhere?

Wouldn't it just be a lot easier if we just all treated each other honestly and fairly?

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