1. Plan for the worst - One of the very first things you should think about is a buy/sell agreement. Essentially this is a discussion of what will happen if someone wants out. How assets, liabilities, equipment, clients, the company should be handled. This alone can be an incredibly complex process to outline. 2. Keep it Equal in Shares - There is a tendency to want to be the majority shareholder, or to have one person as the majority shareholder in the company. After all if a decision can be reached, what do you do if no one has more weight than the other? However it is better to develop system of deliberation and problem solving than to assign majority shareholding to one person. To have majority ownership of a company would permit one to fire the other partners, spend all the profits of the company in his/her own salary and essentially leave the person who has minority ownership with nothing. 3. Develop an Operating Agreement - It is important that everyone is on the same page when it comes to how the business will be run. Like anything in life the more you plan the smoother things will run. You would hate to arrive day one and realize that no one wants to do the sales, and the company can’t even get off the ground. This will also help establish validity if you feel that one partner is not pulling their weight, and should be paid less because of it.