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Mother of all disputes

July 21, 2008 – 12:04 pm by John Giles

According to the Romans, community of property or co-ownership was the mother of all disputes. And this still holds true today. How often does the following scenario play out?john-for-michalsons-001

Two or more people decide to start a business together. The reasons and people are diverse. One has a network, the other the idea and expertise. They decide to go into business together and form a company. Each person assumes that other person has similar values and ideas. As often happens, things start going wrong - a customer does not pay or pays late, the warehouse is broken into and the stock stolen, or one of the shareholders die. The company needs money and the shareholders need to lend more money to the company. Some people pay and others don’t. Calls aren’t returned, messages are left and sent, and before they know it - they hate each other.

What now? It’s a mess because they can’t work together to run the company and they also can’t separate easily. One wants out but the other is only willing to pay half the market value to buy the others shares. It may also be hard to sell the shares or the business to a third party.

This is why a shareholder agreement is essential. Conclude it at the beginning of the relationship before there is any “baggage“. It should deal with things like:

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