Partnership Essay

another essay i wrote for economics.

      It was the summer again, and this time my friend George and I had both graduated from the University of Texas with Bachelor's Degrees in Business. We had both been toying with the idea of forming a partnership since last semester, but neither of us had put serious thought into it...until now. We both needed jobs; why not put our noggins together, step up fresh to the plate, and have a swing of our own? We both knew that the idea was a bit short-lived and hastily made, but the risk was well worth the sweat. We devised this particular plan with our good buddy, Jerry (who is a Engineering and Technology double major), to revolutionize the world of global positioning systems. The plan itself was infallible: the GPS would be able to tell its user their location by way of its satillites analyzing the mineral levels of the area it was located, and time of day could be told just by measuring the local temperature.

      As September came around, George and I decided to go through with the plan. Truth to be, we were both tired of Mr. Cambrigde, our boss. He was a whiner and a COMPLETE thorn in the tush. He was a busybody and a gossip, and we just couldn't stand to work there for another week. As we saw our way out, we talked the company accountant, Andy (who was a very dear friend), into jumping ship with us. That next morning, George, Andy, Jerry, and I were seated comfortably in my cousin's office at her law firm as she drew up the provisions of our articles of partnership. Since we were only good at what we do in particular, we decided to enter a limited partnership. It was decided that George would be the general partner, because he was born with a white-hot platnum, jewel encrusted spoon drooping at the corner of his mouth. Besides this fact, George was incredibly persuasive. After all, this idea was HIS brainchild. 
 

      Before we left my cousin's office that day, I asked her to be our exclusive legal adviser, and she cheerfully agreed. Now that there were five partners in our venture, it was decided that we would split ownership five ways. Everyone would have a say in the finality of business, but everyone would keep to their specifics and ask of the other partners only for advice. Seeing that George was extremely rich, going to a bank was factored out of the equation. But, to be as safe as we could, we borrowed an amount from the bank on a Small Business Loan. Once our business got its wings, our product sold like honey! The very first day, we sold at least five hundred units. As the days went on and the money began to flourish, George and I sat back and grinned. If we continued to experience growth like this, we could open a bigger business. If we opened a bigger business, we could sell stock. Lots of stock. Our tiny little business could grow up to be a corporate clean-up pitcher, and with a little careful prodding, could grow up to be the star player of its industry. 

     Summer rolled around yet again, and we had relocated. George decided it was time for our company to go to the next level: selling stock and becoming a corporation. We knew it would be a bit difficult to set up, but we felt that we were ready to step up to the big leagues. I pointed out that we might ultimately lose ownership of our company, our blood, sweat, and tears, to the stockholders. George replied that we could only sell less than half our stock, so that we would be the ensured owners, the way it needed to be. Over the next six months, we faced many arduous challenges and fees. We had to acquire various charters from the great state of Texas, but we managed to somehow pull it all off. Within the week, we had already sold 45,632 shares of our company, seeing as how our other partners gave off some of their stock. Our corporation was publicly held, because we believed it was more beneficial to the people we served to feel even more important to our company by having some ownership. 

      But there was a problem: we weren't making quite enough to supplement the various costs of a corporation; quarterly dividends, double taxation, fees, and the ever so ominous operating costs that a company of such magnitude could allocate. We sold bonds, but that didn't help out very much. To end much of the strife, we decided to vertically merge with SynTec Materials, a metalworking corporation, and a computer programming company whose name escapes me. The tension was palpable as our case was being reviewed. Every day felt to me like we were slipping further and further to the verge of falling off the shelf. Production began to slow, first at almost an unnoticable rate, then faster and faster, until it came to almost dangerously low levels. We had enough money to subsist, but for how long we didn't exactly know. After months of waiting, strained phone conversations and board discussions, contacting shareholders, and a couple of shrunken family holidays and reunions, the merger finally went through. Everyone cheered. We partied like it was 1899, which is weird, because I don't know what it was like in 1899. I'm glad that our company survived; it was a happy hobby to have.