Partnership?

[SuperEric102]

I owned a pet sitting business for over 5 years out of my home and I finally want to expand and buy a place. My cousin wants to go in with me and she has different qualities that she can bring to the business. We were thinking of getting a business loan and investing 50/50 but by what percentage should we split the company and how much should each of us invest?

Keep in mind that I started this business and gained my Clientele for over 5 years but she in my Cousin.

[GalFriday]

It's wonderful to do business with family until you actually start doing business with family. :D

"Keep in mind that I started this business and gained my Clientele for over 5 years but she in my Cousin."

This is an extremely telling statement. It tells me two things. First, it's YOUR business. You worked for five long years to get it where it is today. Second, you'd like your cousin to be involved, but you feel guilty because you want to limit that involvement. Am I close?

It's your business. You just said it. So you need to decide how you'd like to bring a partner in. How much is her investment worth to you? How much work will she be doing for you? What is the current value of the business?

Whatever you decide, write everything out. EVERYTHING. It doesn't matter if it's family. It ALL has to be in a contract. It ALL has to be worked out on paper so you know what all the expectations are. Don't do anything until you've got signed documentation in place as to how you want to run the business with her. Then go and get the loans.

[huggytree]

most partnerships fail.....i wouldnt do it normally.....but since its a relative im going to double down and say HELL NO.....good way to bring fighting into your family get togethers when things go bad

build your business yourself....give your cousin advice, but let her do it on her own too

[KristineS]

You have five years of hard work building the business and all the skills you've gained while you were doing that. You're bringing an existing clientele and reputation to the table. What is she bringing? That would be my first question.

Second, what sort of business do you want to set up? Is it a kennel sort of situation? Are there going to be new tasks to do and new areas of expertise that will be needed and is that where your cousin can help?

Third, sit down with your cousin and talk about how you want to structure things and who will do/contribute what. Then see a lawyer and get it all in writing. Ideally you would each have a different lawyer so both sides could independently vet the finished document and make sure it works for both sides. Don't do anything on a handshake and a promise. That can backfire in so many different ways.

[BNB]

"Keep in mind that I started this business and gained my Clientele for over 5 years but she in my Cousin. "

This statement alone means this is a VERY bad idea.

For one, it's very unlikely you will get a business loan. So you need to focus on saving up and starting small in any way you can. Second. Getting into business with ANY partner is usually a bad idea, getting into business with a family member is even worse. Especially since you are suggesting the only reason you are doing this is because your cousin is family.

You built the business yourself, and you need to continue building your business yourself. Hire people to do work that needs to be done. Giving out equity in your business is never a good idea and it usually negatively affects the health of the business as well.