After about a month, I figured it was time to make our separation public. No doubt you have already noticed that since mid-May I haven’t really been posting very frequently on the blog - this started out as me being busy with moving, but once things settled down, I took a long hard look at our steadily decreasing earnings and felt that the majority of our time was spent focused on the blog… which wasn’t earning anything. Anyway, long story short, I felt the blog should be shut down until our earnings slide was reversed, and ultimately that was the catalyst for us deciding to go our separate ways.
It’s not particularly surprising that our partnership ended, after all a vast majority do at some point fall apart - whether the business is a failure and the partners fall upon each other like a pack of wolves playing the blame game, or the business is a success and someone wants to do things their own way… it happens.
Overall, as far as splits can go, ours has gone very well and I don’t believe there was so much as a single argument throughout the process! Mostly I feel this is attributed to the fact that we both wanted out before anything started - it’s not the first time someone wanted out, but it was the first time one of us didn’t want to stay. It also shows how we’ve grown up in the last few years: if this had happened 4-5 years ago, I have no doubt we’d have descended into involving lawyers, and ultimately our friendship never would have recovered. Instead, we both still talk and I can’t say it’s really impacted our friendship all that much.
However it did teach a few lessons that might be helpful to the rest of you. If you go into a partnership with someone, always have an exit strategy: it was easy for us since our assets are largely static, and our non-static properties were pretty easy to divide, however if you’re partnering up for a single site which simply can’t be divided in half, make sure you have an agreement in place and update it as the property increases in value, whether real or imagined.
If the asset is a site which both of you will want, then you have a problem. If your partner is a friend from another part of the world you met via the internet, then quite honestly you’re probably SOL… and whoever steals the site away first will probably get to keep it. But really, anytime you partner with someone, it’s buyer beware - so use good judgment, and if you’re putting a large investment in the site, then keep records and write up agreements for everything, because eventually something will go wrong (or very right) and one person will want to strike it off on their own. When that happens, it’s best to know who contributed what and who wanted what from the outset.
My biggest piece of advice would be: never sit in a bubble. If both of you are equally capable of running your properties, then it’s fine - but if you are dependent on your partner, insist on being shown how things are done, at least to a point where you can do the necessary day-to-day things without them. Dave has been more than fair with me, but not everyone has the strength of character to resist leaving their partner unable to continue without them, especially in a moment of anger.
Anyway, it is my understanding that I will stay on staff here as a guest blogger, mostly just covering for Dave should he go on vacation, and maybe writing the occasional article if I have something to share.
I wish Dave and all of this blog’s readers the best, and I’m sure this blog will continue to be a valuable resource for anyone looking to get into online business.
