Q & A Table of Contents
The Partner Who Keeps Changing The Rules
From: Anitra, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Question: What should a partnership business do when a partner continues to add to or change their original contract?
Response: Successful business partnerships are based on trust and the fulfillment of agreements. If one partner keeps trying to change the agreement — or simply undertakes actions without eliciting the agreement of other partners — trust disappears.
Would it make sense to ask your partner why s/he has taken whatever steps you find troublesome? ‘How is what you are doing helping the business or our relationship?’
The crucial lesson in this is that once a person gets away with a little bit, the odds are that he or she will continue to take bigger and bigger bites out of the situation. If you let your partner know the first time s/he strays from the contract that you are troubled, there’s more chance you will prevent subsequent misbehavior than if yuou let things keep building. In this case it sounds as if that has already happened — so you need to consider tougher steps.
If you are an aggrieved partner, you should examine your alternatives and the possible consequences of various actions. The first question to ask yourself is what impact your partner’s unilateral action is having on your business, on your personal share of the benefits of being involved in the partnership, and on other aspects of your relationships with the partner and others who have some sort of stake in the business (employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, banks, etc.). If you are gaining from your partner’s actions, perhaps it is best to leave things alone. However, if your partner’s behavior is damaging business, your ego, or other things you hold dear, you need to decide whether remaining in the partnership is worth the costs to you.
Can you divide the business between yourself and the partner? Different states and countries have different legal procedures to use in splitting up a partnership — and you should find out what those processes are and whether the impact would be favorable to you. Can you go after your partner for breach of contract?
Partnership ‘divorces’ are phenomenally unpleasant experiences. If you are lucky, after such a break-up you can say ‘Good riddance!’ But often the costs are very significant.
Locking the barn door after the horse has been stolen is usually ineffective. However if you figure out what lessons you have learned or are learning from this experience and if you apply those lessons in the future, you are likely to gain in the long run.
Good luck,
Steve
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