hi, i have been working with an established printers and we are in the process of starting up a partnership in a graphic design company working under the umbrella of the print company.

 

so say they were going to be taking care of the setup of the company, setting up the studio, using their staff for non design things (accountant, lawyers, sales etc) providing me with the work. and i take care of getting all the work done and managing the company from day to day.

 

however this has been going on for some time and i have now been working for the company a couple of weeks, not to mention the endless hours of work i have put in beforehand for branding/promotional work etc.

 

anyway, i will not be receiving a wage for this work, i will get 50% of whatever the company makes. However, before the work reaches me the printing company will take 10% off the top. 5% comission for their sales staff and 5% to go towards bills (phone, internet, electric etc) so effectivly i will only be getting 45% of the money.

 

seeing as i will be doing 100% of the design work (untill there is enough work to take on another designer) and the day to day running of the company i am starting to feel rather short changed. as i say the written details have been dragging on a bit and still nothing has been signed.

 

is it just me or do you think that the 5% sales comission should be coming out of the print companys share of the profits. and especially the same for the 5% to go on bills etc.???

 

on top of this i have been given a 2 year old mac to work on which has been redundant in the corner of the room untill now. a couple of weeks ago there was even a clause written into the contract that stated after the company makes £50k profit it would become liable for paying rent on the studio space the printers is supplying (which i would not agree to. What exactly will the company be providing in the long term for its 50%?

 

after confronting them on all of this i was told more or less that if i did not accept the terms then there would be no further offers. I am tempted to walk away as i feel that i am being screwed over but i have already invested so much time in the business. and it may still prove to be a good opportunity.

 

their argument is that they are setting me up with a sound setup with good credit, a large client database, a sucessfull website, knowlegable staff etc. whereas i feel that without me they would not even have a product to sell. Im sure if i walk away they will just get somebody else in to do the same thing but i cant help but feel like the deal is pretty one sided.

 

I would appreciate any thoughts or advice on this. Hopefully i have explained the situation well enough.

 

Thanks

Hi

 

Sorry to hear about your plight. Partnerships can be tricky sometimes as companies or persons use the word just as "come ons" with no concrete, substantial benefits of being true partners. Correct me if I am wrong as from your narration, it would seem that you are just working for them and not really taking the role of a solid partner. I've had a couple of partnership offers in the past but they were vague arrangements and it appeared that I was just working for them.

 

In my opinion, the work you rendered should actually be compensated by this company. Right now it may seem that this company does not have to put out any money for a designer so in a way they get away with overheads. And you may be right in saying that if you walk away they can get somebody else but it is worth your time in staying? How's the printing business in UK? ( I stay outside UK ) Is printing their only source of income and are their assets liquid? Meaning do they have a healthy cash flow?

 

Maybe you can try to weigh the pros and cons if you walk out on this deal. Would you gain more by walking away? Also thinking long term, if right now they don't treat you fairly, there's no assurance that in the future things will be running smoothly.

 

Good luck.

Hi Ben, i experienced two times about this type of partnership. Both ended in negative ways and failure. Addition to MacDesign opinions, a partnership should include "a fair play" style, which must keeps your mind, income and trust satisfied, thus partnership can render the business stable and keeps you happy. What i get is from your post, non of them provided to you and you are getting tired, stressful. I believe you are taking much responsibility, working hard; but your earnings remain well below in every way. My humble opinion and suggestion is keep yourself happy about your work, i cant advice break up or continue about this partnership. But, do not fear from becoming individual worker if this will keep you happy and satisfied.

thanks a lot for your comments guys.

 

I decided to dissolve the partnership today as there were just too many things that i was not happy with. It was good to hear that i was not alone with my thoughts. Looks like i will be going it alone for now although with a bit of luck it will remain friendly and i may be able to pick up some ongoing freelance work from them, we will see...

 

But once again thanks for your reply.

 

Ben

Hi Ben, i felt alone also, but we aren't, wishing good luck to you.

Hi Ben,

 

You may be worth speaking to them, and offering them a referral fee for any work they pass your way, but it shouldnt be anywhere near 50%. the most ive agreed with someone was 25%. This may keep them happy, as they are not taking too much except a "heres a good guy we know that will do a brilliant job"

 

Reaper

Hi Ben,

 

Wishing you good luck and hope you are enjoying designing. Pls do not be discourage with what happened and always look up to the positive side. I also encountered bad experiences with past clients and decided to part ways with them. I also had clients who rejected my work and they parted ways with me. The positive side is they were bad clients anyway and not worth keeping the relationship. Maybe God ( if I may mention catholic religion here ) wanted to closed "the door" on this and open another window. After that I got a better client to work with and was quite happy.

 

Just keep moving forward and look to the bright side and as your experiences deepens, you become a better designer.

 

MacDesign

Hi Ben,

 

Wishing you good luck and hope you are enjoying designing. Pls do not be discourage with what happened and always look up to the positive side. I also encountered bad experiences with past clients and decided to part ways with them. I also had clients who rejected my work and they parted ways with me. The positive side is they were bad clients anyway and not worth keeping the relationship. Maybe God ( if I may mention catholic religion here ) wanted to closed "the door" on this and open another window. After that I got a better client to work with and was quite happy.

 

Just keep moving forward and look to the bright side and as your experiences deepens, you become a better designer.

 

MacDesign