thanks mate
Shipping directly to Amazon Fulfilment Centre
With the greatest of respect, you haven’t even slightly touched the sides of what you are considering. But that is okay, you haven’t done it before, you are asking questions and (hopefully) learning about things you didn’t know you didn’t know.
We all started somewhere, so don’t be discouraged - but also please heed a little advice that may save you a lot of future head and heartache.
Most of what you are being told here has been hard won/learned advice born from expensive and painful lessons. I don’t want to make it about your age, but at 19 it is hard to see what can go wrong in life - you are still enthusiastic and optimistic - that is brilliant!
But - experience has taught each of us in our own ways what can or will go wrong and how to at least minimise the fallout. That friend of yours - may be a lifelong friend and business partner and you end up sipping cocktails on a desert island together in your 70s. But experience tells me that you will grow up, get different priorities and that will strain your business relationship and you will be immensely grateful for having a formal business agreement between you.
You would find one locally to you ideally.
At least I like one I can literally walk into and have a meeting with face to face.
Make sure they are aware of trading on Amazon, and of PL and imports
Basically you need to “interview” local ones - you are going to trust them with every aspect of your business, it needs to be someone you like, and feel you can rely on
Appreciate the advise my friend you have definitely made me think about a lot of things i didn’t even consider before.
If i register as a limited company, with my partner registering, it will be 50 - 50 wouldnt it? So would all the profit be split fairly and the taxes are paid fairly etc, there would be less headache right?
Have you looked into Limited Companies all the additional paperwork etc that goes with it?
A limited company is its own entity - so it will need it owns bank account etc - you and your friend would basically be its guardians.
What % of the business you share would depends on how you split it in the shareholder documentation
Please before you do anything - speak to an accountant
Limited is a big jump to make, it may be the right one for you, but you need to sit and talk to someone, who you can tell about your current plans, your future plans, what you would like to happen, how much you hope to make, how involved your partner will be, how likely it is you will agree on future plans etc.
Going into partnership - limited or not, is a big decision and should not be taken lightly and you should seek advise from a professional
(just a side note, you don’t need to be limited to split the business 50/50, you just need a partnership, or 60.40, or 70.30 or whatever % you’s decide on)
At the very very least you need a legal document documenting your plans for the business, the % split, who will be responsible for what, what happens if that person does not uphold their agreement (ie what if 2 years down the line you’re doing all the work and handing him 50% of the profits!) and what will happen if one or both of you decide to leave down the line
right i understand, so you would recommend going into a partnership. Do you know how long this process takes to complete, as the order i was gonna make with my supplier will now have to be put on hold until i sort all this out
I am not recommending anything, I am only recommending you SPEAK TO A PROFESSIONAL FOR ADVICE!!!
Please do not come back in here in a years time and blame it all on me!!!
I do not know enough about your financial and personal situation to offer any advice. That is why we are all saying talk to an accountant!
Going into business with someone, no matter how you do it, limited, partnership, employer/employee etc, is a big step to take, it is not one you should decide based on a few posts on a forum.
Please talk to an accountant who can advise you the best way forward, who can lay out the pros/cons of each, and help you make a decision who will have all the information.
Of course, I am not making my decision based on your recommendation, and I understand the choices or mistakes I will make are my fault, not anyone else. So yeah, I’m gonna get an accountant to advise me for this part
I think you need to involve your partner in how you proceed whether as a partnership or limited. Your partner might be happy with the current situation in paying half the costs and having half the profits. However they need to make sure they have their interests covered and any money they put in is protected.
You may also want to think what happens if either of you want to pull out of the partnership.
its a product in the health and personal care category… sorry but I’ve been advised not to share the specific product … otherwise it could make things more easier for me but oh well
Just make sure you have all the relevant health and safety certificates etc that may be needed and that they are valid for UK and EU (because currently NI is running under EU regulations)
tbh now i wish i did this by myself, but now things are agreed and we worked on the product together for several months, its immoral of me to back out now, so just have to solve all the issues because of it