I own a small business, and my biggest piece of advice is to clearly define your goals. What are you hoping to accomplish? Think about that both financially and in terms of lifestyle, and have a serious discussion about that with your potential partner.
If all your employees call in sick on Boxing Day who goes in to open? If you have a flood/tarriff issue/lawsuit etc who puts in the extra money? What happens if one partner can't come up with their share? What happens if one partner dies/gets divorced/wants to sell?
I dislike other people telling me what to do enough that I don't have any franchise experience, but even with a franchise there will be problems that you'll have to solve. If you're planning to have a partner it's a really good idea to have as many eventualities as you can think of discussed in advamce (and the outcome written down!).
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