50/50 Partner

[MsMe]

Does anyone here have a 50/50 partnership and a separate location?

I know Blackcat and Meeko (?) have seperate locations and help but they are not full partners? right?

If you do...how does it work for you, how do you divide tasks and responsiblities?

I have a 50/50 partnership but tends to be a 70/30 and for the last little while a 100/0

I am looking to get us back on track and I need some ideas.

[NiNi.R.]

I'd be very interested to hear what people have to say on this. Right now my friend and I run two separate licensed daycares but would love to combine to create a small center. We can never figure out just how to figure out how. Especially with finances.

[MsMe]

I am curious to see what other will say too. Most specificly if it IS working for anyone.

If I am being completley honestly think it was a mistake and I often wonder if we had had a better 'plan' or 'rules' if it would have worked out better.

We are also Mother/Daughter and it has helped as much as it has hurt the partnership.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I do, but I'm married to my business partner! We also have a separate building for child care, a small center. I don't think I'm much help with the finances end of your question though! (Because we're married and there's no expenses or profits to "split") But I can offer LOTS of advise on opening a small center, logistically speaking. My only thought is.....rent a building, not buy one. Its WAY cheaper to buy, ultimately, but too complex for a partnership I think.

[Meeko]

I'm not a partnership. Hubby helped me until about 6 years ago and now my son works with me.

All money received goes to me and my husband. My son gets a few rooms in our day care house to himself as "pay". He has another business in the evenings which gives him his cash flow.

So there's no money to split. And I run the show 100%. My son comes to the trainings etc with me, but he doesn't have a say in the running of the business. He's happy to leave that to me. He just loved no rent or mortgage!.

However, he is technically the licensee as he is the one living in the home. But it's on paper only.

[B Lou]

I will be honest. My friend and I ran a home based daycare in her home. A first we agreed on everything. From the way we interviewed to the way we ran crafts. To the way we cleaned and billed parents. We were a great combination. I loved the babies and toddlers and she was excellent with the preschoolers and schoolagers. looked to be a match made in daycare heaven.

That is until after afew years we started having problems with our pay. At the end of the week we would take the pay from the parents and divide it in two. Then I would give her a % of mine for the house hold bills. Water, elecrtic, heat, ect. We agreed that any big purchases for the daycare would be approved by both her and myself.

My husband was working a job that was very min. wage. And having 3 small children of our own we had to live pay check to pay check.

My partner would go on a weekend get away and come back with just tons of things for the daycare that she expected me to pay half for. Me wondering what happened to our agreement, would pay her my half. Even though I couldn't afford it. Causing problem between myself and my husband. Which in turn caused problems for me and my partner. When I confronted her about it it caused a HUGE fight between us. Causing alot of tension between us. And alot of resentment on my part.

We ended up going our seperate ways. We both continue to do daycare. Hers in her home and mine in mine. We are still friends but NOTHING like before. So before it causes resentment and tension, I would say get out while you still can.

[logged out on purpose]

So it's not a good idea to partner? The owner and myself have thought about opening a 2nd location, where we would partner in the 2nd location, but I'm not aware of all the legal stuff and hassles involved, nor all the details (some of my worries are: what if one of us takes the week off, and the other is left doing everything that week; what if one of us ends up working more hours than the other; what if one of us uses more electricity, like having the heat set up higher, than the other would; what if one of us really is busier than the other in life outside daycare, and wants to work less; and then the really big things like agreeing on polices and what if one wants to enforce it, and the other thinks it's okay to let it slide; or one wants to term a family, and the other isn't sure). How would you figure out all those little details? How did you work out those details, MsMe?

Does anyone have a website we (MsMe and myself) could look on, telling the pros and cons of partnerships, and the legal stuff involved, and how to work out all the details? MsMe, how have you up to now figured out the financial stuff, like how much is take home pay for each of you, and how much money goes back into running the daycare? Right now the owner pays all the daycare related stuff (including me), and takes anything left over as take home pay. But that leaves no room set aside for extra purchases needed for things that wear out, new toys/materials, trainings, if a parent pays ahead, so there's a week or two that they do not pay, she's short that money, etc. Is there a certain amount that you two set aside as a daycare fund, for daycare purchases, or do you both just take it out of your pockets when those things come up? If, say, you worked an 8-10 hr day, would you end up with more take home pay if you were an employee instead of a partner? And would your daughter end up with less because of having to pay you along with the full amount of other daycare related bills (since she'd then be getting the full amount of parent's payments, I didn't know if it'd even out or not).

I'm sorry I can't offer advice for you, MsMe. I was just excited to hear that someone on here does a partnership, hoping they could offer ME some advice