View single post by YARGH
 Posted: Thu Apr 3rd, 2008 01:30 pm
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YARGH

 

Joined: Mon Mar 17th, 2008
Location: New York, New York USA
Posts: 75
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 I agree with the expressions of caution that others have made.  Obviously, I don't know you, your business or the potential business partners, but there is a general rule of thumb to go by here: if a business opportunity is excellent, then a person will do whatever he possibly can to reap as much of the benefits for himself as possible.  Conversely, if a business is failing, a person will want to divert liability to as many places other than himself as possible.

As others have said, you should get an accounting of the businesses books before you even consider this.  Investing in the bar/restaurant business is, from a bottom-line perspective, one of the riskiest business ventures that you can get involved with.  Also, you should evaluate whether these people are ones who you could get along with personally, and who would treat you like a "real" partner, and not a silent one (unless that's explicitly the arrangement).  Understand as well that if there are to be three of you and those two are already in it together, they can collectively run the show anyway, since their two votes will always be greater than your one. 

Also, you need to take stock of the money necessary to do this and evaluate what other kinds of business opportunities you could take advantage of with it.  Like others and myself have stated, the restaurant business is a pretty dicey place to invest your life savings, since so many of them fail.  If you've got a yen to throw a ton of money into a business, consider whether there is there some *other* business that you'd be better off sinking $180K into?  If being a restauranteur is what you're after, you need to consider how else you could do it, rather than limiting your decision of whether to be a business partner to this particular business.

If you have determined that this is a genuine opportunity and not just a ploy for the other two to get a cash infusion, you absolutely need to find an experienced attorney to represent you when the partnership agreements are drafted.  And try to casually mention the fact that you will be looking at the numbers and getting legal representation to the other two guys, so that they know they're not dealing with some rube, if in fact that is what they are anticipating. 

Also consider that if this offer is being made from a genuine place, you could possibly parlay it into just a pay raise, rather than a partnership stake -- if what they're really after is securing your cooking skills, then they should be willing to pay for them, even if you turn down their partnership offer.  And if what you're really after is just a better paying job in the kitchen, then this option could work best for all of you.     

And hey -- if this is a legit opportunity made by a couple of people running a healthy business who really just are impressed with your work and your professionalism and are doing this because they really are that impressed with you, then congratulations and give this some serious thought.  It could be the difference between doing well professionally, and doing REALLY well.