Partners and agreements

Training 1005 minutesbusiness partnership

You are 29 and launch a coffee van with a friend. You make the coffee and run the spot, your friend puts in most of the money. The friendship is strong, but money tests every friendship.

Training goal: Agree on terms so both the business and the friendship survive

▶ Play this training

Situation

1. Your friend puts $20,000 into the van and machine, you put in $5,000. You work 50 hours a week, your friend 5. Your friend proposes an 80/20 split by money.

Split 50/50, you are friends
You get a salary for work, shares follow the money
Accept 80/20 and work unpaid

2. Your friend wants to approve every purchase. The milk runs out, you wait half a day for a reply, and the queue walks to the neighbors.

Decide everything together, friends will agree
Write down roles and a limit: up to $500 you decide
Whoever owns more decides everything

3. The van makes $1,500 profit a month. A marketer offers to run social media for 15% of the business and promises to double the customer flow.

Give 15% vesting over 2 years
Give 15% now to motivate
Pay $500 a month with no share

4. You suggest writing down what happens if one partner leaves. Your friend is hurt: "Why paperwork, we are friends." Profit is now $18,000 a year.

Agree verbally, friendship matters more
Write down a buyout formula for leaving
Download a template and sign without reading

5. An investor offers $10,000 for a second van in exchange for 20%. The fine print: until they get $20,000 back, they take 50% of profit, then 20%. Two vans make $3,000 a month.

Accept, the price per share looks fair
Price the full cost, counter with a plain 20%
Decline and save for the van from profit

What you will learn

Pay work with a salary and money with shares: both inputs stay visible and fairly valued.
Write down roles, limits, vesting and exit rules while everyone is still friends.
Judge a deal by the full total over its term, not by the share price.

Your real-life step

This week write down with a partner or project teammate who owns what and what happens if someone leaves.

Questions and answers

How should partners split equity?

Separate the inputs: money, work, ideas and contacts. A common approach pays work with a salary or vesting shares, and money gets shares in proportion to the investment.

What is equity vesting?

It is a rule under which a share is earned gradually, usually over 2-4 years. A partner who leaves early keeps only the earned part.

Do friends need a partnership agreement?

Yes: it fixes shares, roles, decisions and exit rules while everyone agrees. Ask a lawyer how such agreements work in your country.

▶ Play this training Track your budget in Hanimani

More trainings in this module

Numbers are illustrative. A game, not financial advice.