Situation:
Partner stories are often perceived as "we got together and decided to start a new business." In reality, there are many scenarios where a partnership is formed within an existing business, either by adding an external partner or transitioning a top manager into the business ownership structure.
One of our projects involved the task of including a third partner in an already existing business. Historically, there was one founder who, after several years, transferred a share to one of the top managers, a key figure from the start. In this dyad, communications and rules were well-established, many of which weren't even verbalized due to years of working together. It was within this structure that the decision to include a new partner with valuable contributions but no experience within the partnership structure was made.
One of our projects involved the task of including a third partner in an already existing business. Historically, there was one founder who, after several years, transferred a share to one of the top managers, a key figure from the start. In this dyad, communications and rules were well-established, many of which weren't even verbalized due to years of working together. It was within this structure that the decision to include a new partner with valuable contributions but no experience within the partnership structure was made.
Effective action:
Incorporating a new person into an already existing structure of several partners is always a complex task. The situation can be compared to the arrival of a first child in a family, where established roles and habits need to be completely rebuilt, both among everyone together and between the "previous" participants.
At the start of the project, we immediately noted that the task was not just about agreeing on a buyout formula and redistributing percentages, but about developing and adopting a sort of charter for partnership interaction.
The first part of the work we organized through modeling "what if" scenarios, both negative and wildly positive. It was important to unearth even the most hidden fears and points of conflict: adults with their own histories usually have quite a few skeletons in the closet.
One of the identified fears was the issue of death or loss of capacity and the subsequent working out of the agreement on what the heirs would receive and choosing the legal form to document these agreements.
The entire process took 2 months, with breaks for thinking and decision-making.
At the start of the project, we immediately noted that the task was not just about agreeing on a buyout formula and redistributing percentages, but about developing and adopting a sort of charter for partnership interaction.
The first part of the work we organized through modeling "what if" scenarios, both negative and wildly positive. It was important to unearth even the most hidden fears and points of conflict: adults with their own histories usually have quite a few skeletons in the closet.
One of the identified fears was the issue of death or loss of capacity and the subsequent working out of the agreement on what the heirs would receive and choosing the legal form to document these agreements.
The entire process took 2 months, with breaks for thinking and decision-making.
Result:
As a result of joint work, a new agreement was designed and signed, shares were redistributed, and the partners' operation was completely reassembled. The final document included important clauses about force majeure situations, share distribution in critical cases, areas of responsibility for each partner, and time frames for the new partner to buy out the share, among many other details.
Currently, the company and the owners successfully work together, having already survived several challenging situations and managed to handle them independently. The scheme for including the third partner consists of several stages of buyout, which should be completed by the end of 2024, fully forming the partnership within the initially set framework.
Currently, the company and the owners successfully work together, having already survived several challenging situations and managed to handle them independently. The scheme for including the third partner consists of several stages of buyout, which should be completed by the end of 2024, fully forming the partnership within the initially set framework.