Insights / Evaluating a partnership
Seven decisions to settle before a partnership.
The product and its boundaries
What is being made, for whom, and what must happen before the full build begins?
Describe the first thing a buyer should receive and what would count as a successful delivery. Put teaching material, checkout, communications and ongoing service into their own lines. List any unrelated products the creator already sells.
If you are still looking for evidence that a buyer wants the result, test that assumption first.
Bring to the conversation: A scope with the buyer, deliverables, exclusions and a decision date.
Funding and cost recovery
Who pays each bill, who can authorize it, and what happens if nothing sells?
A party may advance an expense and carry the loss, or advance it and recover the amount from later sales. Ask about those cases separately. Compare the budget at ordinary sales, at low sales and at zero. Identify any amount one side would still owe.
Bring to the conversation: An approved budget that identifies limits, recoverable items and any repayment obligation.
Work and approvals
Who teaches, launches, approves changes and supports buyers after launch?
Walk through a launch day and an ordinary support day. Decide who checks the teaching, posts the invitation, approves claims, handles refunds and answers a buyer whose access has failed. Work out how a holiday or missed approval affects the timeline.
For U.S. promotions, the FTC’s guide for influencers explains how to disclose a material relationship. Include that check in the approval process where applicable.
Bring to the conversation: Names, expected hours, approval windows and backup contacts.
Rights and access
Which files, permissions and accounts can each party use during the project and afterward?
Write three separate entries for a recorded lesson: who owns it, who may reuse it, and who can download an editable copy. Do the same for the domain, artwork and buyer-support tools. Agree which customer information may be accessed for a given purpose.
The U.S. Copyright Office’s Copyright Basics explains the distinction between ownership of a copy and ownership of rights in the work.
Bring to the conversation: An inventory of existing and new assets, permitted uses, exports and handover dates.
The payout calculation
Which sales count and in what order do refunds, fees and approved expenses come out?
Consider two fictional proposals for the same receipts. The figures below are a calculation exercise. They do not describe OfferNorth’s commercial terms or a forecast.
| Calculation | Proposal A | Proposal B |
|---|---|---|
| Cash received, excluding sales taxes | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Refunds and payment fees | −500 | −500 |
| Approved expense recovered before allocation | 0 | −1,000 |
| Amount to allocate | 4,500 | 3,500 |
| Creator allocation in this exercise | 40% | 45% |
| Creator payout | 1,800 | 1,575 |
The higher rate produces $225 less in this month because it applies after a separate expense. Ask where that expense was recorded and whether it can recur on a later statement. Repeat the calculation for a month after the expense has been recovered.
Bring to the conversation: A sample calculation you can reproduce from buyer receipts through both payouts.
Statements and settlement
How can both parties check the figures, correct an error and confirm payment?
Agree who receives buyer payments, which currency the statement uses, when it arrives and how either side can check a deduction. Test a late refund by carrying it into the next statement. Identify who can correct the entry and when a revised payment is due.
Bring to the conversation: A sample report with settlement dates, inspection access and an owner for corrections.
Exit and existing customers
When can the project end, and who will meet obligations to people who already bought?
Imagine the partnership ends the week before a promised lesson. Someone must still deliver the lesson, handle requests for refunds and respond to access questions. Set a last date for sales, a handover date for files, and a funded plan for outstanding promises.
Bring to the conversation: A timeline for notice, final bills, ongoing access, support, file transfers and future sales.
Use the worksheet to make a decision.
Mark each item agreed, open or a blocker. Note the clause and assign the next question to one person. You may have six settled terms and one expense you cannot afford. A single unresolved commitment can be enough to pause.
Compare the proposal with the other ways to build. If you are speaking with OfferNorth, use the same questions with us. Our partnership overview explains what we settle in writing before work starts.