MADE Maven Special Women's Issue April 2018 | Page 37

MADEINC
clarity on steps that
should occur to achieve
those goals. It’s equally
important to understand
the motives of each party.
DO implement a
trial period and
sign a NDA .
You don’t have to commit
to a formal partnership
in the beginning, but
you should protect
your idea. Be sure to
sign a non-disclosure
agreement to protect any
type of confidential and
proprietary information
or trade secrets that you
all come up with together.
Then, test the waters out
over a trial period of 3-6
months. This will allow
you both to see how you
work together and to
actually see the value
that each party brings
to the business. It is also
enough time to vet the
level of commitment from
both sides.
DO generate a
formal ownership
agreement.
After you all have a good
understanding of your
roles and commitment
levels, seek out a
lawyer to draft a formal
ownership agreement
identifying the ownership
(equity) of each party.
Be sure that you think
long and hard about the
amount of equity each
party owns.
Don’tS:
DON’T
automatically
agree to a 50/50
partnership.
Consider adding in a
clause to your ownership
agreement that if any
of the partners leave
the company within 12
months of starting it, they
will not get any equity.
Each partner should
commit a certain amount
of time in the beginning
to plant the seeds
that root a company.
Businesses take time to
grow and flourish and if a
partner leaves before the
company sprouts, it’s not
fair to reap the benefits.
DON’T invest
money you're not
prepared to lose.
The future of any
business is unknown.
Although we’d like
to assume that all
investments will receive
their proper ROI (return
on investment), various
factors determine
if this is the reality.
Whatever money you
decide to invest, treat
it as a donation. The
expectation should
be that after a certain
amount of time, money
will be returned with
interest (which should
be identified in a formal
#mademaven
agreement).
DON’T mix
business
with every
conversation.
Your friendship should
be the priority, first and
foremost. As a business
grows, it will be easy
to allow it to consume
your chats. Restrict
your business talk to a
certain time frame during
the week to avoid the
business relationship
taking over your
friendship.
DON’T live
together.
Try to stay away from a
live/work relationship.
Mixing household
bills and chores with
business payments and
deliverables often ends
in turmoil. If you decide
to go in business and
must live with a friend or
even a family member, be
sure to implement hard
boundaries to separate
your personal and
professional relationships
to keep your sanity and
maintain your bond.
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