Contractor to Partnership

[Toan Hoang]

How do I bring my best friend / contractor on as a partner. How can i structure the partnership to allow him in without an upfront cash contribution?

Hi my best friend from childhood is a contractor. One of the best I know (albeit I am a little biased). Does it all and has many good contacts in the business. He never went into his own business however does side work but again his main income is as union carpenter. Being like a brother to me he has always helped me out when it came to certain work I needed done as I invested in real estate. However ealier on it was a bit of a side business for me but as I accumulated more (7,8,9) properties ( I am buy and hold/ BRRRR) I feel that my need for work out paces his availabilty since he has a steady union job. Also as I am taking this investing more serious and trying to ramp up, I DO see the need to have his skill set which in the long run saves on cost since he can understand and negotiate with the different trades and implement cost effective rehab methods.

With that said back to the original question. Has anyone brought partners in with them in such a way that allows them to work there way into the partnership.  Asking for their expertise as part of thy buy in and in return offering them a % of the equity?  In this case I would still want my  friend to be paid for any work performed by himself on behalf of business (he needs to still earn a check) and we would have to pay someone anyway BUT at the same time give him a % of the equit and cash flows from the income producing properties. Any cash out refinance would be reinvested in our business.  

Just trying to see if there is a way I can construct something that makes sense to him (he is a great contractor) but not the best businessman.  I need to keep it where its fair since I have most of the skin in the game but at the same time feel like if there is a way to make it work we could leverage eachothers skill set and make good money over time.  Or should I just leave well enough alone?  Continue down my current path, go it alone, call him if I need him but basically just try to build my business solo?