Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello, start up nation I am a new member and in a situation where I need some advice. I started a new company with two other partners and formed a general partnership. The company was founded in June of 07 and the only people that have been working everyday up to this point have been me and one other partner. Now the third partner has a full time job and contributes sparingly. We have tried to convince the third partner to leave his job, and come aboard full time. He declined to do so. We have raised the possibility of  buying him out or reducing his equity in the company.

He believes that :

1) The day to day tasks that are performed by me and my partner are "grunt work " and these tasks should be taken cared of by hiring employees
2) Myself and the other partner should follow him in getting full time or part time job, for the purpose of injecting small amounts of funds into the business  and  watch over the employees to  take care of the business and grow it since we are trying to create a system so the business can run itself.

Notes:

Our business is an IT consulting firm.
The third partner possibly can get a promotion in his job.
I believe that time is very important to us.
The third member and second member are best friends
Do we  really need to get jobs ?


Help me please if you can

Your concerns are quite common when embarking on a journey such as yours.  The passion you feel for your company and the goals you are trying to achieve are coming through in your post.  I value your efforts in trying to work with and understanding the needs of your partners .. particularly the one that questions the time and energy of the tasks you are currently focusing on.

 With that, your 3^rd partner may not be completely wrong in his / her concerns.  Your time, energy and focus needs to be channelled in a fashion that has the greatest return on investment.   Your greatest asset is your expertise.  This is what will bring in the monetary and personal rewards that will allow your company to succeed and grow.   

 From personal experience the speed and growth of your business depends on the time you invest.  However, where you choose to invest your time will play a fundamental role in goals you lay out.  Hiring full time staff, if I can be so bold, is not the answer. The money to compensate such a venture and the hours to train, house and monitor individuals would take you away from what your number one goal needs to be.  Growing your business.  That being said identifying certain tasks that are consuming your time outside of gaining clients can be allocated out.  You may want to start thinking about how much your time is worth on an hourly basis.  Could your time be better spent elsewhere thus contributing to the bottom line

 Have you had an opportunity to address some of the “grunt jobs” that are consuming your time.  Making a list of these task and the time they currently take you to execute vs. the time you are spending on directly dealing with existing clients, and targeting those you have not yet signed on will give you a better picture of how you are spending your time.  From that you will be able to see where your time could be better spent. 

 Pulling on my areas of expertise, If you wish to share this list I would be more than happy to provide some suggestions and insights to perhaps gain a better ROI for your time.  Feel free to contact me at the email address in my signature line (tgentili@beyondtheoffice.ca).

 As for full time vs. part time.  I am a firm believer in “getting out what you put in”.  When starting a new business it is important to focus your energy on targets, goals, initiatives.  This is your dream, your vision.  If you expect to achieve all that you have set out than I believe you need to keep your eyes open.  Partnering in the success of your vision will provide great rewards.

Tracey and Cheryl

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Tracey and Cheryl
tgentili@beyondtheoffice.ca
"Perfection, professionalism and integrity - partners in your success."