Distributing A Business Amongst Multiple Business Owners

Starting a business from scratch is no easy feat. It is even more difficult to do so alone. In our latest edition from our video series, Trellis CEO Isaiah Bollinger discusses the challenges associated with creating a business with multiple busienss “partners” and gives some tips on how to work and collaborate them to ensure your business grows as planned.

No two businesses are run or organized exactly the same. The leadership and executive teams vary both in number and rank from company to company. However, most businesses are founded or incorporate multiple “partners” early on around the inception of these businesses. This creates a complex dynamic when it comes to divvying up responsibilities, assets, compensation, equity, and operations amongst each partner. Spreading your resources fairly is a difficult thing to do early on, especially when your company is in its early stages and worth close to nothing from an evaluation standpoint.

Evaluate and Re-Evaluate

Putting a value on your time and your business up to this point can help set an agreed baseline for the partners to work off of and come up with a fair distribution of the aforementioned variables. As the business fluctuates in value, it is important to reevaluate and redistribute resources based on the perceived and recognized value each person is putting into the business.

Mindset

Each partner should have a long term outlook, approach, and mindset when it comes to starting a business from scratch. Every so often a company will take off and everyone will get rich fats. however, it is much more common for companies to grow slowly and for returns to be recognized later down the line. Patience amongst partner is critical so that everyone is on the same page and expectations are understood and set in advance. Sacrifice is part of working on a team and building a business you believe in. ensuring that everyone recognizes this ahead of time will mitigate problems and internal strife down the road. Leevarguing the burden amongst all partners will maintain comradery and reduce friction over time.