If you have decided to run your own business, you might need to look for partners, i.e. family and friends, who will help be able to help you start and grow. That is to say, if you go into business with another party, it is highly recommended that you establish a partnership agreement. Conflicts of interests between business partners are inevitable. Forming a legal business partnership will certainly ease the running of the business. Regardless of the number of people that will take part in starting up and the business, you can still draft a partnership agreement, which will focus on both responsibilities/duties and benefits/bonuses for each party involved. By forming a business entity, all parties decide together on the rules and turn under which the company will be based on.

There are some issues to consider before you draft a partnership agreement. To begin with, a partnership agreement can be either verbal or written. Be careful when you decide which type you prefer. It makes a big difference when you do business and make money with a friend or even a family member.  You need to be familiar in advance on what exactly constitutes a partnership agreement. You need to lay down the terms and conditions of the business agreement with your partners. Preferably, draft a written partnership agreement which includes the duties and obligations of each side and also be careful if you decide to use free legal document templates. Thus, all parties will be aware of who is in charge of what. Even though you can write down responsibilities and how profits will be shared, there are certain things in the partnership agreement that are predetermined by law.

The establishment of a partnership agreement is the most important and fundamental step when forming a business partnership. A partnership agreement makes clear of how responsibilities and profits will be shared among parties. What a typical partnership agreement includes is the intent for which it is formed, the name of the business that is about to be launched, and how long this partnership will last. The agreement should also cover alternative scenarios in case for example if a partner decides to leave the business. Conflict of interests and wishes may arise at any point during the running of the business. Problems regarding the continuity of the business can arise at any time, so in case any party wants to leave, the partnership agreement must include information on how the business will proceed. Partners, who fail to consider and include such issues in the partnership agreement beforehand, have many problems and some of them turn to be hazardous for the business.

Starting up a business can be an exciting adventure. However, if you fail to establish a partnership agreement, this adventure can turn into a huge problem for you and for all the people who helped you start it. That is why, a legal partnership agreement, which is as clearly stated as possible, is the key to the successful running of the business. 

You may need a stock transfer form more often that you can imagine

The stock market is very often down during the crisis but that does not prevent millions of people from playing every day (apart from the weekends when it is closed). Yes, it is really addictive and many people lose a fortune but a lot of people spend their lives trying to consistently beat the market. A few even succeed in achieving that. Technology development made it much easier to get to the stock market and what is more important, to follow and control your operations. In real time, almost without delay, all over the world! Thirty years ago, such a thing was unthinkable.

In those not so distant days, one of the factors that delayed trade was the stock transfer form. It is simply a form stating that some stock (it can be shares, bonds, obligations, options, etc.) goes from one hand to another. Since there were no computers to do that automatically, people had to do it the old-fashioned way. All that, of course, took time and made trade far slower than it is today. Not to mention that the transfer could not be placed in an electronic system immediately. Now, all that is gone or… is it?

Well, you will see a stock transfer form in its traditional form very rarely nowadays. However, many people use an electronic stock transfer form many times every day without even realizing it. How is that so? Well, as we have said, we enjoy the benefits of technology. When you register on a stock exchange market, you are supposed to be familiar with its rules. These are normally the tiny font legal documents which state fees, rules of trade, working hours, etc. A lot of people do not bother to read them at all. If you search carefully enough though, you will find that each of your transactions which includes trading stocks, has this electronic form. It says the conditions under which stock can be transferred. Once you click the “OK” button, it means that you agree with the terms, so better read them. It is far more convenient this way and you can always print the form from your computer. Think of it as an online payment – you do not need to see the money to know it happened.

However, there are certain cases, where a paper stock transfer form is still used. For example, if the stock is not freely traded on any stock exchange market and is simply sold from one entity to another, then it is much easier to do this by paper than to create a software product for this single transaction. Another common example is in case of inheritance where one party receives stock from another. In general, it can be said that the paper stock transfer form is used for stocks which are quite rarely traded so that the trade does not justify the creation of an electronic system.  If you are still unsure, better seek a professional legal advice.

First of all, make sure which business relations you would like to have. And also, it is of equal importance, to know which ones you do not want. You need agreements and relations that will enable you to progress professionally and to grow your business. On the other hand, you should avoid as much as possible connections that will surely damage your business (like illegal structures, people who will surely try to exploit you, unhealthy personal relations, etc.). It is much easier to identify the first and sometimes, it is very hard to judge the second group. However, once you know who you look for and why, it is much easier to access them.



Next, be sure that you know how you can benefit form the agreement. After all, the other party (parties) will expect to gain something from this relation. It is good for you to know what it is. Extremely important here is to be aware that your partners want from you officially may not be the same thing what they actually want. A partnership for know-how exchange may prompt your partner to ask for more information that it is wise to disclose. Ask for something in return which is equally important for you; do not just think that your partner will put your interests above theirs – that will not happen.

 

One of the main things that you should remember is to try to treat your partners the way you want to be treated – with respect and without trickery. Of course, you will meet many people in your life that will try to trick you and will treat you disrespectfully. Some of them might even succeed. However, will you keep good memories of them and will work with them again? Most probably, no! Even more, other people will hear of that (something which is much easier with today’s technologies) and will avoid such people. That will be also your normal reaction. So why do you think that most will act differently towards you if you behave in a different way? That does not mean though that you have to be extremely nice (such people normally not the best business people, there are exceptions though).

 

In order to secure long-term success, you need to grow your network. If your business starts growing, it is natural that it will have moments when you will have lucrative opportunities. To exploit them fully, you will need more contacts. Thus, creating and most important, maintaining good business relations, is very crucial. So make sure that you have the right connections (even if you do not see how they can help you at the moment). So it is better to be nice or at least indifferent to people when the situation allows it. However, that does not mean that you should not protect your interests, just show reasonable manners and do not be excessively aggressive.

 

 

What to look for in an employment contract?

The days when people used to work without an employment contract in the UK are long in the past. When you have a job, you need an employment contract. Thus, it is a good idea to have better understanding of its main features so that you are not unpleasantly surprised by work conditions, payment or something else.

The most important feature of the employment contract is its terms. They describe what the employer and the employee need to provide in order to complete the work. The employer normally needs to secure safe work conditions, regular break, paid annual leave, possibility for sick leave, to give instructions when appropriate and to clarify the possible risks associated with the work. The employee is normally required to perform the given tasks, to protect their and their colleagues’ health, to preserve the equipment and facilities, to comply with the security protocol and to undergo training if needed.

You need to be very careful also about the payment. There can be many ways to form a salary. The most common is the hourly rate or in other words, you are paid for every hour you work. Be careful to check if you are paid extra for overtime, for night, Saturday, Sunday and national holiday work. It can be also commission-based and in such case, be sure to know how your salary is formed. Look for Ifs and special cases. It is a good idea to have the contract duration set at the very beginning. Will it be a fixed (seasonal), temporary or a permanent contract? You need to make clear for how long you are expected to work there. Another extremely important issue, which most people neglect, are the conditions under which the employee can be dismissed or leave the position. When both parties agree that the employee can quit, everything is fine. But when one party, no matter if it is the employer or the employee, wants that the employee leaves and the other does not agree, then, solutions for that need to be described in the contract.

There is something interesting that probably many of you do not know. You actually do not have to sign an employment contract to be legally working, you can have only a verbal agreement with your employer and it still would be legal as long as all other legal requirements are met (insurance, documents, etc.). If you try to complain about not knowing the terms which your employer has, this cannot be an excuse. With the act of starting work somewhere, you declare that you agree with your employer’s terms even if you do not know them. This can be convenient for your employer if there is an argument between you and them. So be sure to have a written contract that specifies your duties, responsibilities and remuneration. In this way, you will not be asked to do more, to work under different conditions and to be paid less than given in the employment contract.
If you need to know more about the usual clauses in a UK employment contract, do check the business document templates, provided on-line.

Same like it is necessary to be careful with your employment contract, you need to be careful with the loan agreements, and be aware of the difference between personal and commercial loan agreement.