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Job Title Situation: 2 Brothers equal partners......

EricEric subscriber Posts: 8
edited September 2006 in People: Hiring, Partnering, Mentoring
I`m looking for anybody`s opinion on this. Your first take on it or an actual real scenario. I`d love to hear from the Sloan Bros. on this.
My brother and I established and formed the basic structure of the company. We are totally equal in that we don`t make a move without coming to a consensus.. but for matters of running the business should we assign individual titles to our names? Our business cards?  Right now we are both simply "owners". We haven`t given a "CEO" title or "President" or "VP" etc. 
We want structure but we don`t want a situation where we have a lopsided credibility as judged by our titles.
Has anybody had to consider this situation?  What are the options here?
Thanks,    Eric
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Comments

  • ideaanalystideaanalyst subscriber Posts: 0
    Are you incorporated or are you a partnership? If you are not incorporated, why not just be co founders/co owners and keep it simple. First take on it is all...unless you are a corp and need to name officers...
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  • EricEric subscriber Posts: 8
    Lisa,
    Thanks for the response.
    We are an LLC. We do....we really do want to keep it simple but we wonder about the perception of structure/ the outward appearance.  Co founders and Co Owners is our actual status currently.
    Let me ask further, what do you think of using Co Founder/ Co Owner on a business card? What is your first impression. Do you feel that it carries less weight than the appearance of a straightforward Owner, CEO, or President.
    I`m not trying to be wishy washy. What I`m trying to avoid is the impression that our company is divided (of course they always are in some way). I could be splitting hairs here.
    ~Eric
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  • EricEric subscriber Posts: 8
    That is a great idea Ginny. It competely removes a boatload of presumptions. I think I`ll actually try it both ways and see how different the response is.
    This is going to take awhile. I hope to remember to get back here and post my results.
    Thanks!
    The door isn`t closed on suggestions or examples here. Please keep `em coming!
    ~Eric
     
     
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  • robertjrobertj subscriber Posts: 0 Member
    At various times in my business life, I have carried 3 cards. One with no title and one with a "high" level title while the other had a more mid-level one.
    This is because, in my travels I had occasion to meet and deal with many different people at different levels and I found that their "reaction" to my title offen influenced their communication.
     
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  • onlineeateronlineeater subscriber Posts: 16
    If you and your brother are responsible for different areas of business how about both being Managing Director or Managing Partner of what area you are responsible for. For example Managing Director of Sales or Managing Partner -Finance. Hope this helps. 
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  • EliteVAsEliteVAs subscriber Posts: 0
    Eric,I`m glad you brought this up. My partner and I have merged our companies into one and we handle all business exactly the way you do, in that we consult on everything. Right now, we are using the titles of co-owner/co-founder, as well. It seems a little `too much`, in my opinion, to put that all on a biz card. I would like to decide on somthing simple and yet lets others know that there is two of us invovled. But I`ve come to realization that it`s not really necessary to think like that. Once a client begins to inquire about your business, i.e. goes to your Web site, speaks with you on the phone, whatever, they will find out soon enough that there are two of you anyway. So I think that it`s not really necessary to list co-owner/co-founder. I like the idea of using Owner or CEO or even President. On a final note, I really do like RobertJ`s idea, though; he makes a good point, and having different cards might be the way to go. Thanks -- I`ll have to try that myself.Good Luck!Rebecca
    EliteVAs2006-11-6 3:33:26
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  • EricEric subscriber Posts: 8
    Thanks Rebecca,
    Our first business cards are done and they are a simple
    Eric [My Last Name ]
    Owner/Inventor
    The owner part states that we are in some level of controlling position and the Inventor part reduces any presumption that may accompany the "owner" title. At heart we are inventors. We`re proud to note that.
    We`ll see how that goes for awhile and change it if we feel so inclined.
    ~Eric
     
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