Taking in a Business Partner... Blessing or CURSE???!!!??

[Yagents]

I will offer some respectful disagreement here, from the client side of the equation.

I purchased a medsupp from a forum member who has an agency and uses assistants.

I had a weekend question, the kind of question that many posts here discuss as pia's for agents.

The agent was out of town and passed the question on to his assistant. Within 45 min of Monday open for business the assistant was on the phone with me.

She told me that the medsupp company could not do what I asked. She discussed the company's plans to change that in the future and then offered two ways in which the agency could help me get the information I wanted, if I wanted them to help me.

I had more interaction with her on one issue than I have had with the agent on 3 questions. BUT.... there was/is no question whose client I am -- AND -- it is very evident there is an agency team in place to see that client needs are met. That actually makes it more likely for me, as a consumer, to recommend this agency to others.

The keys here are to choose the right people, see that they have the right training; and then work, over time, to see that your clients trust interacting with them as well as yourself.

You proved my point. If that assistant were to leave the agency, would you follow the assistant or stay with the agent/agency? Happened to buddy of mine, stole half his book when she left. He called the stolen client, who then responded.......Who are you?

Second, I answer all calls within an hour, even on weekends if needed. Waiting til Monday doesn't cut it for some clients. The referrals follow and are overwhelming at times. I would rather over service and not have to pay for leads.

 

[DHK]

That kind of business model probably won't succeed without having both:
- golden handcuff / executive compensation plan
- legal agreements regarding non-solicitation upon leaving and being able to enforce the agreement.

 

[FLM2]

You proved my point. If that assistant were to leave the agency, would you follow the assistant or stay with the agent/agency? Happened to buddy of mine, stole half his book when she left. He called the stolen client, who then responded.......Who are you?

Second, I answer all calls within an hour, even on weekends if needed. Waiting til Monday doesn't cut it for some clients. The referrals follow and are overwhelming at times. I would rather over service and not have to pay for leads.

We have the same business model, my clients know that if they call me they will get an answer within a very short period of time if not immediately. I do differentiate my reply time on the weekends, though, unless it is an emergency. I've found that if I am overly responsive that some people will take advantage of that and need to establish reasonable boundaries on my time.

 

[indienoise]

Absolutely not. He wants ownership in YOUR book just for walking in the door? He might bring experience, but it's CAPTIVE experience which doesn't always translate well to the IA world. I know this from experience.
If he wants to join forces to maximize profit sharing and ability to satisfy volume commitments, but you each only own your own book, that's better, but one of you could also end up dragging the other down with an unprofitable book, poor quality business, etc.
I am not a fan of partnerships. Somebody needs to be in charge.

 

[WillC]

In most respects, a 50-50 partnership is a dreadful idea, and this thread has captured the problems:
- If an entrepreneur at heart, you have lost the primary benefit of ability to call your own shots.
- You are in a marriage, practical matter, with little opportunity to know what life will be like, and it's likely to be far worse than you can even imagine.
- A 50-50 partnership is based on the quickly false assumption of equality of input, so both partners feel okay about the balance. It rarely happens.
- In the specific case raised in this thread, it is presumptive, big time, for the newbie to demand 50% of an existing business. He might suggest an earn-in of some kind based on, say, 3 years of successful performance that provides the opportunity to see work ethic, personal ethics, people skill and compatibility with the owner. But I would never give ownership without clear evidence all those elements are in place.
- I believe the primary benefit of a partnership -- a fellow warrior, a source of opinions in tough decisions, etc. -- could likely be found in some kind of aggregator organization where ownership is not compromised and community is emphasized.

 

[pfg1]

Partnerships rarely end well. There could be another way for you guys to work together possibly, but I wouldn't give him half if it was me.

 

[MattKnowledge]

Thank you everyone for replying. I decided to stay solo for now. Looking at the long term goal I never envisioned having a partner. Let alone a 50/50 partner.

 

[xrac]

Good decision. you will not regret it.

 

[vic120]

I love my freedom, I choose when to spend how much to spend on what to spend, I choose how much to work on what and what direction to go.

I reap what I sow, I have no one to answer to but God, My families need and my bills

I take responsibility for my buis and my production and I don't have to feel stuck if I had a partner that didn't hold up his end of the bargain, I don't see the reason to have a partner except Maybe if one had experience in running a call center and needed a financial partner to do it. Apart from that I can't see a partnership going well as was said before there is ALWAYs one who does more and feels taken advantage of

 

[ehall2]

I have been in the insurance business for 44 years and I have had two partnerships that didn't go well. I'm still working because I lost over $40,000 on the last partnership. I would say no to a partner ship. The last partner sang in the choir at the church I attend and I had worked with him selling final expense insurance for a company. Even though we had legal agreements drawn up by an attorney that stated I could terminate him as a partner for any reason within the first 12 months I still had to sue him to get him out and sign over his stock. After several months of legal wrangling my attorney called and said the next step was to go to the court room and that there was no doubt the merits of the case were on my side, but it would cost at least $12,000 to proceed and there was no need to throw good money after bad. Also, my attorney checked out my partner and everything he owned was in his wife's name, so even if I got a judgment against him it would be useless to try to collect. I had to let him off the hook and it still took time to get him to sign over his 49% of the stock. I am still bitter and had to go to another church because when I see him I get knots in my stomach. I will never have another partner.