How do I deal with a 50/50 business partner who does no work?
When one partner carries the entire workload and financial burden while the inactive partner contributes nothing, it forces them to initiate all communication and push every task forward. This creates a trap where the absent partner can suddenly resurface demanding full control over account decisions, leaving the active partner struggling to establish boundaries without blowing up the company.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Trying to unwind the business responsibly and pay off debtDid this help you?
- 2Carrying out all operations and communications independentlyDid this help you?
- 3Stepping in to do the work yourselfDid this help you?
- 4Considering firing or buying out the cofounderDid this help you?
- 5leaving the business untouched on registry sitesDid this help you?
- 6checking the status on state secretary websitesDid this help you?
- 7seeking legal help on how to enforce the contractDid this help you?
- 8granting concessions to try to make the partnership workDid this help you?
- 9considering closing up shopDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I own a vending business 50/50 with my business partner. The biggest issue is that this isn’t really a situation where he recently stopped contributing. Looking back at the business, he has done essentially zero meaningful work since we started.”source ↗
“I have to initiate communication. I have to identify what needs to happen. I have to push things forward.”source ↗
“Meanwhile, I’m contributing more money and doing essentially all of the work.”source ↗
“Hi - i have a small contracting business and had been working with a guy who I made a partner last year.”source ↗
“He quickly mis-quoted a project, then another one and all of a sudden we had lost ~$60k.”source ↗
“I started getting jobs lined up for this fall, and on the first one he decided to set the project up weirdly, and then just didn’t show up the next day, leaving me and a new hire with a mess.”source ↗
“I told him he breached the contract and is no longer a partner even though he doesn’t seem to think so (he absolutely did).”source ↗
“I’m going to seek legal help on how to enforce the contract given he has a past of being slippery.”source ↗
“I would like to just dissolve it and detach it from my name since it’s not used and I don’t plan to use it.”source ↗
“What are my options? Who can I consult?”source ↗
“There was no money made at all. Never made a sale, never received income, never operated as a business.”source ↗
“He was supposed to set it up. Six weeks later, the result was 8 ignored pings and a 12-day payout hold that almost left us unable to cover hosting.”source ↗
“Now, he has resurfaced and is demanding 'full say on account decisions,' despite having done zero work on the actual setup.”source ↗
“How do I frame this conversation? I need to establish boundaries without blowing up the company.”source ↗
Where this came up
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