Successful Family Business Mediation
Learn what makes family business mediation successful and how the right process can resolve conflict, protect the company, and preserve family relationships.
50/50 Business Partner Deadlock: How Mediation Breaks the Stalemate Without Destroying the Company
A 50/50 business partner deadlock is a decision failure, not automatically the end of the company. Mediation helps equal owners identify exactly what is blocked, separate business facts from accumulated grievances, and negotiate a workable path – renewed decision rules, a division of authority, a buyout, or an orderly separation. The mediator does not impose the result; the owners retain control of the outcome.
When the Problem Partner Doesn’t Propose Solutions
Sadly, the ugly reality is that if your partner complains but doesn’t offer solutions, he’s no longer a partner. A wise lawyer once taught me this important lesson when he was drawn into a nasty partnership dispute that I was working on. One of the partners was always complaining that the other was never bringing ideas to the table. The lawyer, after listening to the whining for 15 minutes said, “Tom, you need to learn to deal with the partner you have, not the one you wish you had.”
How a Mediator Can Help Your Family Business
As Moderator to many family businesses, I have helped with succession planning, compensation planning, and resolving of key questions around the operation of the enterprise. It can be difficult for an adult offspring to talk with Dad about a raise.
What Makes a Contract Legal and Binding?
As you see, a contract can be legal yet not binding. And, the most important take away is that a promise, even if written up and signed, is not binding. If an agreement is not binding, it isn’t enforceable. I assume you want your agreements between you and your partner(s) to be legal, binding, and enforceable. Let’s look at the pieces that must be included to make a valid, binding contract.
The Best Tool for Successful Negotiation
Before I give you the secret to easier and successful negotiation, let me explain a few things that don’t work. In fact, these will work against you. From years of watching people negotiate buying or selling, trying to change processes, or reaching general agreement, I have seen what works and what doesn’t when partners are negotiating with each other.