Doing business with brother?

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'sup WPers, I'm in the middle of a dilemma: My brother wants to do some entrepreneurship and wants my help.
But, we never got along, still to this day.


We had lots of problems when growing up, I don't want to dig into that. The thing is, present time, he seems a little bit more focused and better than before (so that's good), but he still has some issues.
He just got married, and I'm 99% sure he took one of the tvs, which when confronted about it he denied it. He also still has some immature ways of doing things, like easily lending stuff that is not his.

Me, financially speaking I'm fine, I have a job and some savings, and have some other stuff to keep me busy all the time, so I really don't need the money he'd pay me.

And now he wants me to help him.
I think I should just ask him for a certain amount, do what he needs and move on.

help!

Sorry CL the best I could come up with was this you tube of Bubble Bee man with the Spanish flea song...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmFDPFKTOvk[/youtube]

Hope that helps in some way.

As long as he isn't asking to invest some money....

Anyway you know your brother best.

Never do business with family!!

A few questions:

1. Does he want you to put up capital?
2. Has he asked you to formally go into business with him -- sign a partnership agreement, for instance?
3. If not, is he willing to agree to having your services on a contract basis, with clearly defined expectations and responsibilities for both of you?

If the answers to 1 or 2 are yes, then I would advise you to think carefully about it, just as you would with any potential business partner. Do you trust him to keep up his end of the business? Can you afford to lose the money or be responsible for the business' bills if his idea doesn't pan out? Even if he does everything right, business is always a bit of a gamble.

If the answer to 3 is no, I would advise against it. If he isn't willing to define exactly what he expects from you and exactly what you can expect from him, that should be a deal-breaker, just as with any other potential employer.

Going into business with family can be fraught, to say the least. On the one hand, we want to give them a chance to do well; on the other hand, we perhaps know them a bit too well.

Best of luck.

Hi, thx for the comments (and the vid, I'm still dancing to it )
psxmas, i'm not investing anything other than my brain (he asked me to do the design for a product he intends to sell). There's no written agreement, but my mom was present as a witness and mediator between us (she'll also receive the money and hand it to me). And to answer #3, I think it's clear what he wants from me.

And yes, I know, doing something for the family is all except easy...

thx for the words everyone (:

I can't really add much to what has already been said, except that you can back out at any time if there's no contract. He is your brother so I think you should give him a hand, but, make it clear that if it isn't what you signed up to do, or if he gives you any trouble, that you're out. That way you don't end up tied to something you don't want to be a part of.