I need to Fire my Business Partner

dud1yboys · Oct 6, 2010

Hey Guys,

I have an e-commerce site which a partner and I started a couple months back. It has brought in some decent money, but my partner doesn't know anything about marketing or building up the site. All the sales have come from my skills and PPC campaigns. The only thing he does is ship out some orders. Other than that the sales, campaigns, SEO, backlinking, etc all come from me.

Any suggestions on how I should go about this would be great. I don't have the funds to completely buy out the business. It is an LLP.

theadultsplayground · Oct 6, 2010

Put more work on your partner. Give him more tasks that he needs to do. If he's not serious about helping out, maybe he'll burn out. Also be sure to make copies of everything including the website in case he goes rogue.

┼blackrat┼ · Oct 6, 2010

dud1yboys · Oct 6, 2010

xGrave · Oct 6, 2010

if there is no formal contract between you two, change all the passwords and remove his name from every paypal/website account etc. problem solved. make sure everything is registered in your name. Granted its a jerk move but it will save you a lot of headache in the long run, if this guy is truly not pulling his weight and refusing to learn.

Cascade · Oct 6, 2010

Make a list with 2 columns.

Column 1 has the work you do, and Column 2 has the work he does. Show him that you do a lot more work than him and tell him that you think he needs a couple more tasks to even the work out. Then write down a few things you would like him to do that he doesn't already do. I would write down more things than you expect him to do so he can pick from that list and feel like he has a little bit of control in the situation.

Some things could be...

- Post ads on Craigslist (anyone can do this)
- Flyers (Offline Marketing) - Print out flyers leave them on cars, put them in small business places, post them on telephone poles, local colleges, etc...
- Social Media Marketing - Youtube, Twitter, Facebook
- Press Releases - Write to local newspapers and try to get them to feature your site.

Or just teach him some of the things you do and let him do it instead of you.

"95 percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave" - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sandboxed · Oct 6, 2010

If he does 5% of the work, pay him 5%. Only give him what he deserves.

Fwiffo · Oct 6, 2010

that's the problem with going into a partnership or LLC - technically once it's set up, one person can do absolutely 0 and still receive the profits from the operation - there's nothing you really "can" do on your own to motivate / delegate if they're not going to budge

best option is to buy them out, or get out and start your own operation (or just accept the fact that a lazy monkey gets half your profits.....)

kayzne · Oct 6, 2010

So you made the deal with him in the beginning knowing his skills and now you're complaining about it?

How is that his fault?

Sandboxed · Oct 6, 2010

Turn the business into a complete fraud by scamming people. That'll show him.

rakka · Oct 6, 2010

With all things bieng equal, I'd probably just do less work to the point where I was doing the same amout as my partner. Then I'd spend the extra time working on a very similar side project. One thing I'd add though is that if your partner invested a substantially larger sum of funds to get this venture started than you did, perhaps he's doing an appropriate portion of the work. The guy who owns the McDonalds isn't usually the same guy who's flipping the burgers. Perhaps he made his investment with the expectation that you would do the legwork.

alexandraM · Oct 6, 2010

Put a cue ball in a tube sock...u know what to do

it's tough but you have to let him know to step it up or he needs to be replaced

iamman · Oct 6, 2010

Good idea. This will allow him to keep the friendship, build the business, take some work load off of him and not destroy it and probably grow the business. Show him how his help and doing some additional tasks will earn you both more money. Maturely explain to him that you doing so much more work than him is really making you feel used and underpaid. If he's smart, he will realize that he may lose an income stream where he doesnt have to put in too much work and will get his ass moving.

Cascade said:
Make a list with 2 columns.

Column 1 has the work you do, and Column 2 has the work he does. Show him that you do a lot more work than him and tell him that you think he needs a couple more tasks to even the work out. Then write down a few things you would like him to do that he doesn't already do. I would write down more things than you expect him to do so he can pick from that list and feel like he has a little bit of control in the situation.

Some things could be...

- Post ads on Craigslist (anyone can do this)
- Flyers (Offline Marketing) - Print out flyers leave them on cars, put them in small business places, post them on telephone poles, local colleges, etc...
- Social Media Marketing - Youtube, Twitter, Facebook
- Press Releases - Write to local newspapers and try to get them to feature your site.

Or just teach him some of the things you do and let him do it instead of you.

"95 percent of the people in the world need to be told what to do and how to behave" - Arnold Schwarzenegger

dud1yboys · Oct 6, 2010

Great Ideas guys! Thanks for the tips. Well, it was a decent amount of cash to start the business, which I didn't have. I thought he would grow and learn how to do this stuff, but he seems way to into his job. I work full time and work on my site til about 2AM. He goes right to bed.

biks · Oct 6, 2010

So you made the deal with him in the beginning knowing his skills and now you're complaining about it?

I agree with Kayzne - what was the original deal between you two? And why did you need this guy since you knew everything about marketing?

** edit 3 second later, after seeing your post above **

Ah, he had the money. Why SHOULD he work since he came up with the money? Your option is to buy him out or deal with it. You would've had nothing if he didn't come up with the money. What would you have been doing if he didn't come up with the money?

dud1yboys · Oct 6, 2010

biks said:
I agree with Kayzne - what was the original deal between you two? And why did you need this guy since you knew everything about marketing?

** edit 3 second later, after seeing your post above **

Ah, he had the money. Why SHOULD he work since he came up with the money? Your option is to buy him out or deal with it. You would've had nothing if he didn't come up with the money. What would you have been doing if he didn't come up with the money?

You are absolutely correct. We split the cost which definitely helped out. Not to self never go into a partnership haha

Chronos · Oct 6, 2010

No contract?

Ewwwwwwwww!

millhugz · Oct 6, 2010

Lower his pay, but it is your fault for making him your partner.

dud1yboys · Oct 6, 2010

millhugz said:
Lower his pay, but it is your fault for making him your partner.

haha, you are correct I am not debating that fact. It was a learning experience for sure. I have to admit when running the business I am very demanding. :third:

teeniegenie · Oct 6, 2010

dud1yboys said:
Any suggestions on how I should go about this would be great. I don't have the funds to completely buy out the business. It is an LLP.

Is there a LLP agreement in place? If so, that should clearly lay out how to get rid of the partner. Otherwise, the laws of the place you live will have "default" rules that you need to abide by to get rid of him. You'll basically have to buy him out. The problem is agreeing on what he should get. Good luck. I have a favorite saying for these type of business deals: "there's only one type of ship that doesn't sail - a partnership". Learn from this and never do it again unless a good lawyer drafts all the agreements ahead of time (and even then I'd seriously discourage you from doing it!)

I need to Fire my Business Partner

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