‘I know, lets start a business, we’re all good mates – we don’t need a lawyer’.
So went one company I worked with recently, they created a great new company as four friends and to cement their egalitarian business philosophy set-up a shareholders agreement which required unanimous agreement between them for all major decisions.
So who wants to involve a lawyer in these matters, its not the money, they are just so depressing, all they do is make-up what-if-bad-things-happen scenarios and nothing bad will ever happen to us!
I’ve worked with groups of mates, husband & wife teams, brothers & sisters, extended families – the one common factor, they’re people and people fall out, get incapacitated or just have different outlooks or future plans. It is always worth recognising that company shareholders, directors and management have different roles and that having some basic contingency plans will make life simpler if things get sticky.
As it is we have a good company caught in legal limbo while ex-friends expend too much energy hurting each-other – and the lawyers still get paid.
Starting a business – get a lawyer– keep a friend!
