The law is old and cranky at times and really needs to catch up with us modern business women. By legal definition, a partnership is two or more individuals who create and run a business and share expenses and profits equally.
These days, there are many ways to “partner” with someone without adding another owner to your business. It is just that often it is difficult to imagine what that might look like legally.
It may look like a key employee agreement; or two independent businesses collaborating and sharing some endeavors and not others; or it may be some sort of equity and expense split in the traditional way; or some permutation of the above (and then everything in-between).
The point is:
1. Don’t limit yourself in your ability to create unique beneficial “partnership” relationships if that is what you desire; but
2. DO ensure there is an agreement in place to create that relationship.