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Do I really NEED a joint venture agreement?

by kungfudude
11 replies
I started my own internet marketing company yesterday!

For my first venture, a friend of mine will be providing content for martial arts training videos which I plan to sell online as a downloadable training series. I'll be recording and producing the videos, websites, managing Aweber and doing pretty much everything but standing in front of the camera providing the actual content. I'd like to use any leads (subscribers ) I get from this project to build a niche in martial arts and promote products down the road to said people.

Would you suggest having a joint venture agreement with the content provider? What would be the best way to go about this? I want to be as fair as possible and of course give him a percentage of any sales I make from these videos.
#agreement #joint #product creation services #venture #video product creation
  • Profile picture of the author radhika
    He is your business partner? or you pay him for providing content on any freelance site (which makes you the owner of the content/product.)?

    But in any case you can take advice from a local lawyer. Understand clearly how much percentage of the sale he gets.

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    • Profile picture of the author kungfudude
      I am the owner of the IM business. My friend owns a local martial arts training facility/business. He's ready to take his knowledge of kung fu to an online market. I'd like to split the sales 50/50 (after costs are covered)
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      • Profile picture of the author radhika
        Originally Posted by kungfudude View Post

        I am the owner of the IM business. My friend owns a local martial arts training facility/business. He's ready to take his knowledge of kung fu to an online market. I'd like to split the sales 50/50 (after costs are covered)
        If you own the business then get an agreement from a local lawyer saying what are terms and conditions of the profit sharing... like :

        - he provides content
        - you do marketing
        - shares 50/50 profit
        - he can not claim the content in future (in this case you need to pay an upfront cost for his time too)

        Both of you can sign it.

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        • Profile picture of the author kungfudude
          Originally Posted by radhika View Post

          If you own the business then get an agreement from a local lawyer saying what are terms and conditions of the profit sharing... like :

          - he provides content
          - you do marketing
          - shares 50/50 profit
          - he can not claim the content in future (in this case you need to pay an upfront cost for his time too)

          Both of you can sign it.

          .
          This is pretty much what i'm looking for. Is this a "joint venture"? I'm not exactly sure what to call it, to be honest. I've only provided services to people in the past and have never shared profits with an outsider on a project.
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          • Profile picture of the author radhika
            Originally Posted by kungfudude View Post

            This is pretty much what i'm looking for. Is this a "joint venture"? I'm not exactly sure what to call it, to be honest. I've only provided services to people in the past and have never shared profits with an outsider on a project.
            Joint venture is basically two different companies or individuals work on same venture still mantaining their own companies.

            Your friend has martial art teaching institution/company. You have your own internet company. You both come together and work on new project but still having your own companies.

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            • Profile picture of the author kungfudude
              Is a joint venture in itself it's own company? Would I have to open a separate business for the JV? I've found a few template agreements online (not very good ones yet) and they typically have a space for the name of the JV. I'm wondering if this is a fictitious name or an actual new business.

              Also, thanks for the advice everyone! I'm new to the forum and internet marketing and I can already tell this is a great community
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  • Profile picture of the author Ryan Thomas
    No, you don't NEED one...plenty of people still do business on a handshake...but you probably should have one, especially when doing business with a friend. It shouldn't take long or cost much, so better to just do it so all the terms of the arrangement are understood in advance.
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  • Profile picture of the author ronrule
    Originally Posted by kungfudude View Post

    I started my own internet marketing company yesterday!

    For my first venture, a friend of mine will be providing content for martial arts training videos which I plan to sell online as a downloadable training series. I'll be recording and producing the videos, websites, managing Aweber and doing pretty much everything but standing in front of the camera providing the actual content. I'd like to use any leads (subscribers ) I get from this project to build a niche in martial arts and promote products down the road to said people.

    Would you suggest having a joint venture agreement with the content provider? What would be the best way to go about this? I want to be as fair as possible and of course give him a percentage of any sales I make from these videos.
    A "partnership" sounds like a really good deal... for him.

    He busts a few moves, breaks a few bricks, and basically invests a couple hours of his time, and gets all of the name recognition, while you do all the work?

    I would just pay the dude for his time and keep 100% of the profits. Or, if its his venture, he should be paying you for yours.
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    Ron Rule
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    • Profile picture of the author tanbanners
      When you go into an JV with anyone and I mean anyone you should get something that is a legal document.
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    • Profile picture of the author ErinWalsh
      Originally Posted by ronrule View Post

      A "partnership" sounds like a really good deal... for him.

      He busts a few moves, breaks a few bricks, and basically invests a couple hours of his time, and gets all of the name recognition, while you do all the work?

      I would just pay the dude for his time and keep 100% of the profits. Or, if its his venture, he should be paying you for yours.
      Won't you also be driving customers to his business? If he is good at what he does than I understand his work has value, but don't devalue your work in the process. At least consider you would be paying him to advertise and promote his brand. Will he then give you 50/50 of the profit he earns from the customers you would inevitably send his way if what you do is successful?
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  • Profile picture of the author JVMarketer
    I've done many hand-shake deals that went very well. Then I got a few bad apples that really caused a lot of trouble. The reason why you want to have an agreement signed is that they may forget what they agreed to, and then they will fight you tooth and nail about it. Even try to bring you to court.

    I had one entrepreneur pay me quite a bit for marketing work, and he specifically asked for very high paying clients (in the range of $7K to $43K). He also services smaller clients, so to speak. Months later, he said that he had a record number of ''big clients'' but almost no more small clients. He was absolutely pissed... and he even had tears in his eyes as he threatened to sue me. I had to remind him that I got him what he asked me for. Then all was good.

    I did have him sign a 5-6 page agreement, but I neglected to include what he said he wanted.

    One other thing on the subject of agreements: never leave a rock unturned. Every extra minute you spend making your agreement watertight after you think you are done can save you countless hours of wasted time and a lot of frustration down the road.

    And keep things simple! Avoid legalese like the plague.

    Cheers!
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