Эксперт по финансам предупредил британцев о рисках создания бизнеса с равным разделом долей

Martin Lewis shares warning for Brits starting a business - ‘alarm bells' Martin Lewis has shared an important piece of advice for Brits looking to start a business with a friend. In a video shared on X yesterday (Thursday, September 3), the personal finance guru told his 3.2million followers he was asked for advice from a friend. He said they told him they had a business idea with a chum, which they were both excited about. They then reassured Mr Lewis that the business would be set up 50-50, giving them joint control. The consumer champion said he was asked what he thought about it, adding: "I have to be honest, it set off alarm bells." Mr Lewis, founder of the successful personal finance site MoneySavingExpert.com, said his concerns weren't about the business itself, as various factors go into their success, including the quality of the idea, but also hard work and experience. His issue was with the proposed 50-50 split between the pair. Mr Lewis raised the important consideration of what will happen if there's a stalemate on a business decision. "What if you have different ideas about what you want to do with the business? Who makes that final decision?," he asked. "Never mind the fact that one of you might not pull their weight, one of you might want to give up the business, one of you might want to move abroad," he added. He says it's a situation many of his friends have got stuck in over the years, and compared businesses the situation to a marriage, where you start off "thinking that the person you're going to partner up with is going to be wonderful, you get on really well, they're really well suited to you". But he cautioned that you need to prepare for the fact that there may be differences, "especially over the long term, as things change". Martin said for this reason, he told them that if they were to partner up on the business, they need to have a discussion beforehand while they're still friends, suggesting that preparing for future issues that could come up needs to be done beforehand. "You have to discuss: what would happen if you disagree, whose view takes priority," he explained, adding that good will should not be relied upon at that stage. "You need, preferably, a legal agreement that talks about how disputes will be settled, what to do if one wants to leave the business, and all of those other issues." The alternative he says is not to go down the route of having an equal share of the business.