Selling part of your business: bringing in a partner instead of a full exit

The most common reasons are taking some financial security now while keeping upside for later, getting help to run and grow the business, and creating a planned, gradual path to a full exit in a few years.

It can also suit owners who want to stay involved in the work they enjoy while handing over the parts they don't, such as admin, finance or growth.

Sell a share to a partner or investor: someone buys a percentage of the business and takes on a defined role. Bring in a manager as an owner: a key employee buys in over time, often funded partly from their share of profits.

Staged sale: a buyer purchases part of the business now and agrees to buy the rest later, often at a price worked out by an agreed formula.

Each option suits different goals. A staged sale gives a clear path to a full exit.

A partner gives you help without a deadline. A manager buy-in keeps the business in familiar hands.

Partial sales are usually simplest when the business operates through a company, because a partner can buy shares. If you trade as a sole trader or partnership, you may need to restructure first, which has legal and tax consequences.

Talk to your accountant early. The structure affects tax, including whether small business CGT concessions are available on the portion you sell.

A partnership without a strong agreement is a dispute waiting to happen. Your agreement should cover who decides what, how profits are paid, what each person's role is, what happens if someone wants to leave, gets sick or dies, and how a future sale works.

Key clauses include drag-along and tag-along rights for a future sale, an agreed method for valuing shares when someone exits, restrictions on selling to outsiders, and a process for resolving disagreements. Spend money on a good solicitor here.

It's far cheaper than fixing a broken partnership later.

Skills and money matter, but values matter more. You'll be making decisions together for years.

Look for someone whose strengths fill your gaps, who respects what you've built and who agrees with you on the big things: how customers are treated, how staff are looked after and how fast to grow.

Spend real time together before you commit. Work on a project, meet each other's families, talk through difficult scenarios.

How someone handles disagreement now tells you how they'll handle it later.

The value of a share isn't always simply a percentage of the whole. A minority share with limited control may be worth proportionally less, while a share that comes with a path to full ownership may be priced differently.

Agree how value is worked out, both now and for any later stage.

For staged sales, an agreed formula, for example a multiple of future profit, avoids having to renegotiate from scratch later and gives both sides a reason to grow the business.

A partial sale works best when you genuinely want a partner, not just a buyer. If you'd find it hard to share decisions, a full sale with a clear handover may suit you better.

Either way, exploring the option costs nothing and often clarifies what you really want next.