Legal Advice

We are a Digital Agency about to hire a technical partner to work on sweat equity. How do I negotiate the terms?

Please excuse the details I've provided below, as this topic is out of my experience. I own a digital agency that specializes in the design, development and marketing of eCommerce websites. I've grown the company from a home based business into a successful digital agency that is doing around $400k in revenue. I've got to a point were i need a technical partner in-order to scale this company to the next level. An employee isn't going to cut it for me, I want someone to have a commitment to the company. I was recommended to find someone who has mid level experience in frontend and backend development, as their expectations wouldn't be too high. I've found a perfect partner who meets my requirements and is willing to jump at the opportunity. The potential partner has no family responsibilities i.e. kids, wife, house etc, so he can take a risk. The partner will not be investing any capital, but will be Partnership Finalization Ideas: - I'm thinking of putting him on a 12 month paid trial, with a clause for a review of the partnership every 3 months to see how its going, where we can break away if there are any issues. After 12 months of the partnership being successful, I will then finalize an agreement to make him an official owner of the business. What are your thoughts on this? - How much percentage should I be giving up? Remember its a sweat equity deal. - Should he be on the same salary as me? or would it be lower? Even after 12 months once he becomes an official owner? - Can I implement a clause that he can only be an owner of the company as long as he remains at the company working? Example: If I give him 10% ownership of the company after 12 months, the 10% would only be valid if he remained at the company. - Are there any other things I should consider?