Starting a business with one or more partners is a lot like the beginning of any relationship: All parties’ hopes are high and all either one can see is a long-lasting, picturesque bond. During the honeymoon phase, the relationship flourishes and both parties are cooperative and largely unselfish. Both parties work to achieve a common goal and are more likely to listen, compromise and forgive. As time goes on, some relationships continue down this road of bliss and development. But what happens to those that become unstable and/or unworkable? What happens when one person wants to call it quits? How does one make a clean exit?
In many instances, no one considers the ending of the relationship when everything is fresh and new. However, unlike a personal relationship, exiting a business and/or dissolving that business can be extremely complex, stressful and costly -- especially if you do not have the proper legal documents in place.
As an attorney, I have seen many cases where distrust, disdain, divorce, or a general difference in vision has led to one or more partners wanting to exit the company. I have also seen instances wherethe parties could not agree to disagree, so they agreed to fully dissolve their business.
The only problem was there was no clear legal documentation as to how that process was to be handled. Consequently, they were either left with a former business partner maintaining a large holding in the company, giving a larger-than-expected payout to buy back their former partner(s) shares of the company, or incurring hefty legal/litigation expenses trying to figure out how to divvy up the business assets.
So how does an entrepreneur properly strategize for success as well as secession? Start with these two words: shareholder agreement.
A shareholder agreement is both a contract between the business and the shareholders and an agreement between each of the shareholders of the company. It lays out the rights and obligations each shareholder has to the company and to each other. More importantly, it specifies who owns what percentage of the company and, when properly drafted, what happens when a shareholder exits the company, gets married or wants to assign his/her rights in the shares to a third party.
For instance, let’s say that you have a limited liability company and you put in $800 and your partner puts in $200. You two plan on splitting the company (and it’s profits/losses) 80/20 with 80 percent going to you, but you never activate a shareholder agreement. Now let’s say that your company grows to be worth $1 million and your partner, who was expected to only own 20 percent, exits the company or dies while married. In both instances there is no signed agreement stating what happens next, so state law controls. In Illinois, the exiting partner or, in the latter example, the wife of the deceased partner could lay claim to 50 percent of the business… and they could win!
Business
This is a basic example but the stakes are continuously raised as your company grows and thrives. With a properly drafted shareholder agreement, the company and all shareholders, especially the non-exiting shareholders, are more protected from adverse situations and costly back-end legal fees.
So start smarter and plan for the end by drafting a shareholder agreement that is properly tailored to fit your business needs and expectations.
Jamal Jackson, JD/MBA is a licensed corporate attorney within the State of Illinois. He is the co-founder of Initiative Consulting Group, LLC and has a solo law practice helping entrepreneurs navigate the murky legal waters of business ownership. Contact Jamal at Jamal.Jackson@initiativecg.com and connect with Jamal further on Linkedin and on twitter: @Initiate2excel.
