I own a company with a business partner. We have been in business for 11 years. The company is very successful, however over the last few years, my partner and I have not gotten along. We have a business coach who guides us and we even had a conflict resolution therapist work with us for 6 months. However I feel that I cannot work in this environment any longer. I would like to sll my shares of the company but my business partner does not want to incur the cost to buy my shares (I estimate at 1.5 million). We have a buy/sell which we have not signed yet, however it does give him the right of first refusal if I should sell my shares to another. Here's my dilema. What do I do if he does not want to buy my shares, and he does not like any of the other buyers who seek my shares. I feel like I could be stuck here. Any advice from others who have gone through this before would be greatly appreciated.
-Jody

I will be the first to say that it is not a good idea to go into a partnership. Now if you wish to sell your shares of the company then you should sell them. He can't lock you into a company that you no longer want to be in. I think his problem is that he doesn't want you to come out against him with your own company. But you have to ask yourself do you really want to give up a successful company. If you do then by all means look for someone whom will be a good fit and then sell the shares. He can only block you from selling them for so long. Good luck

I actually don't want to give up a successful company but our reltionship is so rocky that I feel fairly miserable coming into work. I think it's time. I know that financially it will not benefit me as well as if I stayed, I feel that I need to do this for my sanity. As far as "he can only block you from selling for so long", how long is so long? If we have a buy/sell that says he has the right to first refusal, he can stall me forever. Also, I am more than willing to sign a non compete, as I would like to take some time off to spend with my 3 year old daughter. Has anyone put a time limit on "rights of first refusal" so that the selling partner won't be waiting in purgatory forever?!