When resources are scarce – a limited budget for everything you and your coworkers want to spend it on, too little office space for every person to work, too little time to get everything done, a contract on how to divide profits – discover the differences between what you and your coworkers want.
By sharing your differences, you discover ways you can mutually help each other.
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You may want more money because you want more money this month for the down-payment on a new house. One of your partners may want more money six months from now so she can go on an expensive vacation. Another of your partners may want more money to tell his friends that he made over $100,000 this year. There are creative ways that each of you can get what you want. But even with a fixed amount of money coming in, you yourself might get more money now for your down-payment, pay an extra amount to your partner so she can go on her vacation, and have your third partner impress his friends by making over $100,000 in back pay if you do well over time.
Even better is to find ways to make more money, or do more with less. For example, maybe you have an expensive time-share in the Bahamas that you can lend to your friend who wants to take her expensive vacation.