Hi all! This is my first post here and it's a doozy.
I've been approached by an acquaintance and fellow baker/decorator to merge our businesses.
Has anyone on here merged their business with another? With a friend? How did you go about it, in a legal/logistical sense?
Thanks for any help in considering this opportunity

I haven't but you d love too. I would get to know this person better especially to get familiar with their ethics and personality. Making sure you can deal with their personality traits is big, at least for me. I can t stand bossy and controlling patterns.

I remember reading about this one...

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=742532&highlight=merging

I'd find out exactly why she wanted to merge with your business. Is she not getting enough business on her own? if that's the case why would you want to merge with her? If it's an opportunity to expand to a storefront do you want ot do that?

Make sure you get an attorney to set everything up and put it in writing, whatever you do. Delineate the division of labor and what you're both expected to oversee and do. It would be too easy for misunderstandings about what role you're each supposed to play to happen if everything isn't in writing.

Thanks!
It's a situation where the other business is a storefront and I am not.

Because this is very overwhelming, we are going about this slowly, seeing if we are compatible on a working/personality basis now. After that is established I think we can better focus on the logistic & legal aspects.

I agree on having an attorney with experience in small business mergers involved.

I'm trying to be very smart about this and not just jump on it just because I want to have a storefront. I was very up-front about wanting to be a co-owner & partner, not an employee. We are on the same page with that, so that's good.

I'll let you know how it shakes out.
In the meanwhile, any advice is appreciated!