When business partners behave badly

You’re a strong-minded and determined entrepreneur. This has resulted in you forming your own company and making it a success. That being said, it isn’t possible for you to take on the entire workload. This is why you’ve enlisted a team of staff and maybe a business partner.

A good business partner will bring different skills to the table that complement yours. They’ll share the workload and treat the company with the same deal of respect that you do. Unfortunately, this isn’t always how things pan out in reality.

Outlined below are a few signs to look for that may point to misdeeds on the part of your business partner or co-owner.

Mishandling funds

As your equal, your business partner has decision-making powers as well as access to the company funds. You trusted them. However, when going over the accounts, the numbers don’t appear to be adding up.

Company funds have been withdrawn without receipts or an explanation. The expense account has also clearly been overly utilized. It seems that your partner has been using company funds for personal expenses, which is a slippery slope.

Mistreating team members

While there is a hierarchy in your company, every single member of the team is valuable in their own way. Simply put, you couldn’t do without your employees and you value them a lot.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem like that feeling is shared by your partner. Your staff has become demoralized and you’ve been hearing reports of verbal abuse. As a business owner, the last thing you want is a deflated team or lawsuits based on harassment discrimination or hostile working environments.

What can you do?

If your business partner or a co-owner is behaving badly, you may need to make a change. We help business owners figure out what steps to take when their business partner turns toxic. Contact us to schedule an initial consultation.