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There are a lot of people out there selling insurance. My advice would be to sit down with a few of them and see what they recommend. Just make sure to tell them that you are a very small company with not a lot of money to spend, so that need to tell you exactly what you need and not recommend...

It sounds like you are hesitant to put money into the company or go in debt before you know more about the potential success of your product. There is a really interesting post on PartnerUp's blog about this very issue...

That's strange if, as it sounds, your employer docked part of your pay for going to a dr. appointment. I've went to a lot of doctor's appointments in my career and I've never been docked for it. Did you mention to your manager that you were leaving and that you'd stay a little late to make it...

This is going to be a broad generalization that doesn't apply to every circumstance or person... I have found that the people who are most successful running their own firm have an outgoing personality, are good at sales, don't mind networking, and make a decent salesperson. It seems that these...

I came from working for a consulting firm and recently came to work at PartnerUp.com, which is a startup. I've found that working for a startup gives me a lot more flexibility in terms of being able to manage my own schedule, and I also get a lot more upside potential than a normal corporate...

This is kind of a side-thought, but you may also want to check with insurance carriers to see if they'll write a policy without having a license. Since you mention that you do electrical engineering work, I'd be very careful in making sure that I had insurance coverage if it were me. Mike...

I realize that noone likes to hear this, but I would definitely say that it is worth the couple hundred dollars that it would cost to discuss this with a lawyer and/or accountant. Mike http://www.partnerup.com/

I have seen many vendors that will offer very delayed payment terms if they perceive you to be a potentially large or strategic customer. Starting a business with very little capital is a fine art, but it can certainly be done. By getting money from customers up-front and delaying payments to...

Make sure that you've taken a look at the financials of the business and that you feel comfortable with the valuation of the business that's implied by the stock price that they are asking you to pay. Then, I would definitely talk to a knowledgable accountant and lawyer. Congrats! It sounds...

I would approach the two business partners and tell them that you would like to feel more of a sense of ownership and that you're considering leaving to start your own firm, but you would be very interested in becoming a partner in their firm. See what they suggest or offer, and then start to...

I'm in computer science, not structural engineering, so I'm not really sure what software packages structural engineers need. That being said, my suggestion would be $10k for your computer and business expenses, plus 18 months of living expenses, adding 10% to account for unforseen expenses and...

At out IT consulting company, my business partner tried to implement a dress code. I was completely against it for fear of the potential liability due to interpretation differences between employees and the different dress codes for men and women. I have always believed in letting people choose...

One other thing that I should have mentioned... You may want to think about who will be executing the agreement, or otherwise selling the service to the end customer. Will it be you or your friend / customer / business partner / whatever he is? That's another point that I would bring up with...

I have always found that a few hours with a business attorney who has a lot of experience with business formation is an excellent investment. In addition to the general business formation question that you ask, I think that you also need to think about what the relationship with your friend is...

Many people here have offered some great suggestions that I think would work well. I think for the engineering business, you may find that you will get some really great results if you can turn your existing customers into your marketing partners. When I say marketing partners, I mean try...

I used to work in software development consulting and I would say that we did about 75% quoted work and 25% hourly work. Although, most of the hourly work that we did had not-to-exceed clauses. I tend to lean towards fixed fee arrangments for the very reason that you mention. My former business...

Greg makes a great point. If this isn't that P3 is a lazy business partners and is simply that he needs help marketing his services, P1 and P2 might consider helping him to market or sell his services. Otherwise, why not consider creating some sort of profit distribution system whereas the...