Marty Kaczmarek remembers the excitement of starting a Miami fitness center with his former personal trainer. He also remembers the bitterness of feuding when his business partnership turned sour.
''It was very awkward because he's my friend,'' Kaczmarek recalls. ``I soon realized that friendship is friendship and business is business.''
Today's weak economy is sparking a trend: business partnerships on the rocks. Partners find themselves clashing over money issues and unmet expectations -- unleashing strong emotions such as anger and frustration. And when that happens, the carry-over into personal lives can be traumatic.
''Too often, issues aren't worked out in advance,'' says Greg Ward of WardKim, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who specializes in partnership disputes. ``The hardest part then becomes how to take the emotions out of it.''
Many people go into business with close friends or family members, thinking they can translate congeniality into a profitable venture. But sometimes, a few years -- maybe a few months -- later, the story changes.
MONEY ISSUE
Kaczmarek and his partner had agreed to split the profits, but never discussed unexpected costs. When the business needed more cash and expenses were questioned, the trouble began. Before long, his partner stopped returning his phone calls.
''You never want to get to that point,'' Kaczmarek said.
Often in partnerships, the atmosphere becomes resentful because of money issues or disproportionate workloads, or, as in marriage, one partner learns ugly secrets about the other.
SERIOUS FALLOUT
One partner becomes embittered. Decadeslong friendships can be destroyed and families split because of irreconcilable differences, and personal health can be affected.
Deryk Davidson is in the throes of a breakup with his partner in an information technology company.
The two met in tech school and became drinking buddies. Now, as they divide up the company, Davidson says he feels as though he's going through a divorce. ``I'm running through all the emotions. I just want it over with and resolved.''
Most experts say the key to avoiding a horrible business divorce is to think long and hard about going into business with a partner, even a close friend or family member -- and always have an upfront agreement similar to a marriage pre-nup.
The agreement should anticipate everything from partnership duties to buyout terms.
David Gage, founder of BMC Associates, an Arlington, Va., business-mediation firm, says business divorces are tricky because partners rarely anticipate how difficult decisions will be handled.
''For most people,'' Gage says, ``it's very emotional because it's their livelihood.''
The key, he says, is to put emotions aside and look at the options for resolving the dispute. In other words, consider an exit strategy.
''By the time they get to a lawyer, they usually aren't speaking to one another,'' Ward says.
AN OPTION REMOVED
Continuing as partners is typically no longer an option. And the more partners, the more complicated it gets. ``There are more possibilities for misunderstandings.''
The majority of these cases are resolved by a lawsuit or one partner buying the other out, Ward says. This can be difficult in today's marketplace because some banks are less willing to make business loans.
Ward suggests that if you find yourself in a dispute, try hard to keep communication open and conversations professional.
One of my friends recently sold her stake in a clothing store in a breakup with her partner. It was so personally taxing that she could barely eat and ended up losing 20 pounds.
''Our kids were friends, so it was like our families divorced each other, too,'' she says.
REDUCING RISK
Kaczmarek now has a new partner in Auto Europa, a Naples car dealership. This time, he has put all financial and operating duties in writing and signed off on them upfront with his partner.
''I know now that when someone doesn't trust his or her partner, that breakdown is permanent,'' Kaczmarek says. ``The partnership is effectively no more.''
