Hello,

Welcome to the May 2008 edition of Quick™ eNews.

Some of you may recall in the February 2008 newsletter I mentioned about our Quick Group of Companies acquiring a stake in Calltracks, and whilst all the paperwork has been going through for this deal, including our shareholders agreement, I realised how few people actually consider the importance of shareholders agreements.

It is a well known statistic that 50% of business partnerships break down when two people who may know each other very well go into business together, and then further down the line cracks start to form, and the partnership breaks down. This can be because of a whole many of reasons, whether that be one person feels they do more work than the other, or one isn’t meeting targets, or simply a difference of opinion. The bottom line though is that half of all business partnerships start up with the best of intentions only to break apart, often resulting in a very detrimental affect on the business.

This is backed up the sheer number of distraught “part” business owners who ask for help on UK Business Forums after their own relationships fall apart with their joint shareholders and business partners.

It is not all doom and gloom though. These problems could so easily be resolved by agreeing at the outset what course of action will be taken when disagreements come about, because they will come about. This is done through a document called a Share Holders Agreement or Partnership Agreement, and is a compulsory document to have drawn up if you are going into business with someone else, even if that business partner is a close friend or family member. I would go so far as to say even more important if a friend or family member!

On that basis one of our clients has been kind enough to provide some things to consider when going into business with someone else, and things you should consider when drafting a shareholders agreement. This is an important read whether you are forming a Limited company, an LLP or a Partnership with another person or more.

I hope you find this newsletter a valuable read for your own business, and I look forward to providing you with some more useful information next month!

Until then, Kind Regards,

Richard Osborne

 richard.osborne@Quickformations.com