Business partnerships are, by necessity, based on mutual trust and confidence. You wouldn’t go into a partnership unless you believed that the other party or parties would uphold their fiduciary duty.
What if your faith was mistaken? Maybe you suspect your business partner of fraud, unethical behavior, a breach of confidentiality or the failure to exercise reasonable care when managing the company’s affairs. Here are some tips:
1. Get your evidence together
Before you make any accusations, you want to make sure there really is a problem. Pull together all of the relevant documentation and look into the situation quietly.
This is partially a way to avoid damaging your working relationship with the other party unnecessarily and partially to avoid giving them a chance to cover their tracks if there is something to hide.
2. Consider how you want to proceed
Do you believe that your partner’s errors were intentional or accidental? Are the actions criminal? Are there financial losses involved, and how much? Do you believe it would damage your company’s reputation or value if the issues become known? What are your goals for a resolution?
These questions can inform your approach to the situation. Situations where you believe your business relationship can be salvaged or you want to handle the issue with a minimum of public exposure require a different strategy than situations involving theft and fraud.
No matter what the situation, your business dispute can be navigated much more easily when you have informed guidance.
