Starting a social media agency with a partner: How should roles and revenue be split?

When we set up our agency in Frankfurt, we did 50/50 the first year and ended up in a massive fight 8 months later. Then we switched to this: 20% to the company account, 15% to whoever brought in the client, and the remaining 65% to whoever produced the content. Haven't had a single argument in 3 years.

The biggest mistake when going into business with a friend is saying "we don't need to count pennies between us." Six months in, when one person is staying up all night waiting for video renders while the other sends one email a week and takes the same cut, that friendship is toast. Put every single detail down in writing from day one. A solid contract is what saves the friendship.

Do this this week: Open a blank spreadsheet, list all the work done last week, and log how many hours each of you spent. Break the roles into three hats: "sales", "production", and "management". Everyone needs to know which hat they're wearing and how often.

Correction: I misremembered the figure, it was a bit lower.

With a 10,000 EUR starting budget, I wouldn't rush into forming a formal legal entity and paying hefty notary and registration fees. Test the waters with your first 3-4 clients through a sole proprietorship and subcontractor agreements. Once you see the model actually works make the leap to an official entity.

def talk through the exit terms upfront. if splitting the cleint list turns into whoever can charm them wins, you'll end up in court. client contracts must belong to the business not individuals.

Correction: I misremembered the figure, it was a bit lower.

You need to clearly define client ownership and non-compete clauses in your partnership agreement. Setting up a transition buyout clause that stops a departing partner from immediately poaching active clients under their own name provides essential legal protection.

Are both of you going all-in full-time on this agency or will one keep their day job while the other shoulders operations? Because if the time investment isn't equal, your entire revenue-sharing formula changes.

Your skill split is great; with one person in the field creating and the other handling sales and ads youll scale fast. Just dont shy away from talking money. btw being upfront from day one always wins.

generally correct, but one part is missing. if it's your first time, start small; scaling comes later.

if you have questions write them; I'll answer as best I can.

I agree, and I'd like to emphasize that. If you don't write this down from the start, it leads to arguments later.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

If you're going this route sort this out first. The only thing separating friendship from partnership is a written contract.

A partnership without a payment schedule locks up at the first split. If you post the result here it will help others too.

Ive been dealing with this for a long time... Dont hesitate to ask; those who dont ask always pay more.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.

There's also a measurement aspect to this. Solutions that work at a small scale collapse when you grow; I learned this late.

Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

Following.

Yes, that's exactly how it is with starting a social media agency. Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

Taking notes for two weeks yields better results than a six-month estimate. Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

The discussion got scattered, let me summarize. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

let me share what happened to me; it might be useful. if you get three different answers on a topic the question was asked wrong.

when listing, put proof that the product actually works at the very top then correct me if I'm wrong.