Small Law Firms

Partnership Lessons From The Baby-Sitters Club And Breaking Bad

Of course, the stories are fictional and overly dramatized so people will read or watch them.

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Every solo at one time or another has thought about partnering up with one or several people. Of course, being risk averse, we will do our due diligence. We’ll ask our colleagues for advice and they will reply with their horror stories. Or we may read a few books on partnerships which will explain what steps we need to take, what forms we need to complete, what fees we will need to pay, and what traps we need to avoid. Chances are, all of the information we get will be so intense and complex it will probably scare us back into being solos again.

If this describes you, perhaps you may want to revisit some old books or TV shows where the main characters were involved in a business partnership but in a more entertaining setting. Here are two series that I found to be the most memorable.

The Baby-Sitters Club — When I was growing up, my schoolmates and friends would talk about the books they read. Some of the most memorable from my day were the Phantom Tollbooth, the Ramona series by Beverly Clearly and any book by Judy Blume. But one of the first young adult books that dealt with partnerships was the Baby-Sitters Club (BSC) written by Ann M. Martin and numerous ghostwriters.

By the way, for the male readers, for the next few paragraphs, you might want to replace BSC with Superfriends to make it a bit more relatable.

For those who are not familiar with the BSC, allow me to give the lawyer’s explanation. It is about four 12 year old girls who start a home-based baby-sitting business without obtaining a business license or other government clearances. Also, none of them have any formal training on child care. Such ignorance could expose them to liability but regardless has failed to obtain liability insurance or set up a limited liability entity.

The BSC’s operations are also suspect. While the members have established officer positions (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) the BSC has no formal operating agreement. In numerous books, the president unilaterally made all major decisions for the BSC and sometimes runs the organization with an iron fist. Also, the vice president is a figurehead with no management authority as the position was given to a member only because she has her own phone line and her room was used as the BSC’s headquarters.

As the BSC’s operations grew, they added more members. But the BSC did not conduct any background checks before allowing them to join the organization. Furthermore, it is unclear as to whether these new members were treated like independent contractors or W-2 employees which may violate tax and labor laws.

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While most of the stories focused on personal adolescence and social issues from the perspective of a baby-sitter, there were some simple lessons about running a business and managing an effective team. For example, all of the officers had responsibilities. While everyone was expected to do their jobs, the group also tried to be flexible to accommodate everyone’s needs outside of the organization. The group dealt with several competing baby-sitting companies and ended up acquiring one of them.

The members of the BSC on occasion got into fights and some were intense. In several occasions, the BSC came close to breaking up and at one point, it did temporarily.

But ultimately, the BSC managed to last 14 years and over 250 titles because the members worked together, had sleepover parties together and were generally there for each other. They didn’t care about origination credits, how many hours were billed babysitting or which provision of the operating agreement applied in a dispute.

For those who did not read the BSC books, the summaries can be found here. It’s worth reading (or re-reading) to go back to a simpler time where all conflicts were resolved before reaching page 200. But take the conflicts with a grain of salt. After all, we are adults and we wouldn’t settle disputes like 12 year olds, right?

Right?

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Breaking Bad — If there was ever a series that glorified just about everything that can go wrong in partnerships, it is Breaking Bad.

Walter White is a chemistry professor diagnosed with terminal cancer. He has nothing to lose and he wants one last big payday for his family.

Jesse Pinkman, a former student of Walter White, is a drug user and dealer squatting in his dead aunt’s home with no purpose in life.

Under normal circumstances, Walter and Jesse would want nothing to do with each other.

But Walter created a very potent form of methamphetamine but had no one to sell it to. That is where Jesse comes in. Walter would create the meth, and Jesse would sell it to his connections. The money made would be split equally.

The plan seemed simple enough and the equal split of the profit seems fair considering each partner was indispensable to the plan.

But the pair runs into others who also want in on the action and the money. Walter and Jesse partners up with them not knowing that some of them plan to kill Walter once they find out his meth recipe and is no longer useful to them.

As time passes, their partnership began to fizzle. It became clear to Jesse that Walter is interested in making as much money as possible and won’t let anyone stand in his way. At one point in the series, each had a plan to have the other partner killed or arrested.

I learned two things from Breaking Bad. First, having more partners means more people to split the money with. Second, don’t make long term agreements with someone dying of cancer. Make sure that your partner is mindful of what you want out of the partnership and the moment you think you are being screwed (or in this case, you are a target), then get out as soon as possible.

Of course, the stories are fictional and overly dramatized so people will read or watch them. But on the other hand, they may be based on true stories and the author wants you to learn something in addition to being entertained. So now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at [email protected] and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.

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