It’s hard to create and manage a business on your own. That’s why many people end up working with one or more people to start their entrepreneurial endeavor. Yet, even though obligations and responsibilities are often clearly spelled out in partnership agreements and other contracts, these business relationship can sour. When this happens, you might not only lose a close relationship with a colleague, a business associate, and even a friend, but you could also find yourself worrying about how to protect your financial interest in the business.
Resolving an internal business dispute while protecting your interests
Fortunately, there are ways to address this issue. While talking face-to-face, remaining objective, and staying impartial can be a way to ease communications and work through some of your internal business strife, you may have to turn to legal action to formally sort everything out and ensure that your financial interests are protected. Here’s how you can go about doing that:
- Pursue mediation: Sometimes having a neutral, outside perspective can help resolve business disputes. This process can assist you in defining goals and overcoming communication barriers. While this process may help salvage your business relationship, it can also aid in developing a framework for how the business should be dealt with if the relationship is beyond repair.
- Negotiate a buyout: If your business relationship simply isn’t going to work, but one of you wants to keep the business running, then a buyout may be appropriate. You may have already set the terms of this arrangement in a partnership agreement, but if you didn’t then you’ll have to have a proper valuation conducted so that you know what the business is worth and what the buyout should look like.
- Sell to a third-party: If neither you nor your business associate want to continue with the busines, then you can look for a third-party buyer. Again, you’ll want to make sure that you know the true value of your business before putting it on the market, that way you can better ensure that you receive your fair share of the proceeds from the sale.
- Dissolving the business: If you simply want to end the business, then you can work on tying up loose ends, filing appropriate paperwork, paying off creditors, and selling any remaining assets. If you and your business partner can’t agree on how to go about doing this, then you may have to turn to a court for guidance.
- Pursuing legal action against your partner: If your business associate has engaged in some sort of wrongdoing that has harmed your business and thus your financial interests, then you may want to consider taking legal action against him or her. This could include alleging breach of the fiduciary duty, fraud, or misappropriation. This kind of legal action can ensure that your business is protected from further wrongdoing and that any financial losses are recouped.
Advocate to protect your business interests
Regardless of the type of business dispute that you’re facing, you have options for resolving it in a way that protects your investment. But the specific approach that you take really depends on the facts of your case and what you hope for your business and your future. That’s why it’s oftentimes wise to discuss these matters with a law firm like ours.
Our legal team is dedicated to educating our clients about their legal options so that they can make the fully informed decisions that are right for them. Once they settle on a course of action, then we diligently and aggressively work to build the legal strategies that they need to secure the outcomes that they deserve. If that kind of representation sounds appealing to you, then please continue to browse our website to learn more.