consultancy, how to?
lionhearted: Hey Errant - not sure if you're still following this thread, but you got a hell of a lot of some bad advice.Most people are really "mine mine mine!" oriented, they're telling you be careful of the split, watch out for getting filched, etc. That's all well and good to some extent, it sucks to be burned. But you're doing services work - there's not too much you stand to lose later.I'd recommend you don't mess things up going for a slightly uneven split, or overkilling the details. Like mseebach recommended, going sole proprietor is good for low liability. After that, don't kill the goose that doesn't exist yet. Getting experience in business and consulting while making cash is a good thing. If you make 10,000 GBP over the next year doing this on the side, and technically you maybe could've should've gotten 12,000 GBP - who cares? Trying to get a 35/65 split, or overhashing details means the project won't get off the ground. If it's a stellar deal for your partner - even better, he'll be motivated to get you a lot of work. If it turns out to be a bad deal for you, you can move on later.My advice would be different if you'd be building significant assets or investing money. But you're doing services - just get going. I'm guessing a lot of the people who say, "Charge more! Get more of the split!" aren't really big winners in life. No disrespect to them, but we're talking about grabbing at pennies here. Just getting into business is the most important part - be as amicable and easygoing about it as possible. Yeah, there's a good chance it'll end poorly someday, as most partnerships do. But hopefully you'll get good experiences, make some cash, and most importantly, learn a heck of a lot in the process. Don't sweat the pennies, getting into action is where you get paid now, and learn what you need to get paid even more later.