Bringing On Friend As Partner In Established Rehabbing Business

[Jonathan C.]

I have a fairly established rehabbing/wholesaling business (done about 115 deals since 2010), and am considering bringing on my best friend from college into the business with me to help me scale and start a Brokerage business. Because he's older and over qualified for the initial work he'd be doing, while he'd start as a regular employee, over time I'd want to give him a significant piece of the business so he'd be engaged and be a true 'partner' with me in helping me grow what I'm doing. I'd expect he'd end up with (something like) 30-35% of the redevelopment side, and 50% of the brokerage side (which he'd be starting).

I'm hesitant to give up a big chunk of the future businesses, which I wouldn't have to do if I hired a normal employee, but I'm confident he'll bring a lot more value to the table than a typical person would.

What have your experiences been with having a business partner and/or bringing a 'junior partner' type on after your business was already established and doing fairly well?