How do i deal with my unreasonable business partner?

We, Indians are very calculated when it comes to spending money. We are brought up with concepts like ‘paisa vasool’ i.e. “value for money”. If we don’t get “chavanni me rupaiye ka fayda” (a rupee’s worth in a quarter), we almost feel ‘cheated’. Right?

So, here I am basically complaining about one of my business partners. Be honest and let me know if you feel that I am being unreasonable here.

So, I had this partner from the day one of the business. The terms of our partnership were as under:

·     Capital Contribution: He provided no capital to start the business. All the capital was contributed by me alone.

·     Profit & Loss Sharing: He is entitled to approximately 1/3rd share of the profits. But he would not share any burden in case of losses.

·     Roles & Responsibilities: He has the right to get my books audited. If he does not get his share of due profits, he would practically harass me. But when I question him about his contribution to the business for his share, he would have no clear answers. If I dared to question him about his role in increasing the revenue or income of business, he would almost ridicule me.

Do the terms of our arrangement sound fair to you? Would you tolerate such a business partner?

Wait, my apologies. I almost forgot that even you have this “partner” in all your businesses. Yeah, you guessed it right – the partner I am referring to here is the “Government”.      

An average businessman feels ‘less than happy’ while paying his share of taxes. Are we not entitled as businessmen, to question for the services we are getting when we pay our taxes? And yes, it’s that time of the year that this question is bound to haunt us.

Governments from all over the world have adopted this model of operations. They collect their taxes from the businesses, the income generators & wealth creators. They use these funds to run their own operations, (ideally) create infrastructure and last but not the least fund their populist schemes for the poor and the deserving. However, it has become almost an accepted political practice that they create and further fuel the “rich-poor” divide. They make villains of the very people who are footing the bill for these welfare schemes. It’s not the government paying for the loan waivers and the subsidies, it’s the taxpayers.

Unfortunately, there is no recognition or appreciation from the government or the society for these taxpayers. There is no reward or privilege for their contribution. No real facilitation in the businesses in return. Doesn’t this tantamount to “extortion”?

In an ideal world, the governments should feel responsible for increasing our incomes when they are collecting taxes from us. The government should realize that what’s good for business is good for all.

It’s high time that our governments become more accountable to the taxpayers.

Let's start asking the right questions as a society.