This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What's up my friends? So glad you're joining me today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. The podcast is Side Hustle School. It comes out every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
That's all thanks to you. I make this program for you. I really hope it is helpful to you, useful, actionable. That's the whole goal, not just to give you something you enjoy, although I hope you enjoy it, but also give you something that is applicable to your life, particularly in your goal of creating financial freedom, doing something to earn income apart from your day job so that you can do more of what's important to you. Now, today's caller has a podcast.
We've actually featured it before on the show. The podcast is called No Normal People. This is one of our listeners. He has a creative idea to go along with this podcast. This is the update.
His idea is to partner with our local coffee shop to make a custom coffee blend, which of course raises the question, why is there no side hustle school coffee blend or coffee roast? I love coffee. I drink coffee all the time. I can't believe I've never thought about it. Side hustle school coffee roast.
I'm gonna get to work on that right after the side hustle school tattoos. All right, now this listener is wondering about what kind of contract he needs for this partnership. Now, of course I am no lawyer, so always a disclaimer there, but I actually got some input on this question from a friend who does small business law. It's a simple enough situation, but I wanted to bring it to your attention because a lot of people find themselves in situations like these, so I thought we could look at it here. What kind of partnership agreement do I need?
Or is it in fact a partnership agreement at all? That's what we will look at in this episode right after this brief message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hi Chris, Steven from Billings, Montana, again with my podcast, No Normal People. I'm partnering with a local coffee shop to make a custom coffee roast with my podcast's name on it. They will be selling it in their store alongside their other roasts while I sell it on my website.
We're both entering into the agreement with big hopes, but I don't want to let that excitement lull me into a mere handshake agreement. What type of agreement or contract is most appropriate for us to draw up and sign that will protect all parties involved? What are good items to keep in mind when entering a mutual agreement like this? I want to make sure I own the recipe for the coffee blend itself in case we ever wanna leave this roaster for another. I'm guessing this can simply be another line item for the contract, but I'd love some clarification.
Thanks again, Chris, for all you do for the side hustle community. - Hey, Steven, what's up? Good to hear from you again. Hope all is well in Billings, Montana. Glad to know that the podcast is going well.
Our listeners, again, that's called No Normal People. You can find that wherever you get your podcast. So on this question, I got some input from a friend who does small business and family law. First and foremost, as I mentioned earlier, I'm not an attorney. I do think it's helpful for any sort of partnership if you're able to get a consultation from a licensed attorney in your state or province or location, especially one who specializes in this kind of stuff.
I definitely think that's a good idea. So I'm just offering some general advice here. In short, basically, you're not really looking for a partnership agreement, a general partnership where you each own part of the business. You're looking for some type of intellectual property agreement, at least based on how you frame the idea in your question. So an intellectual property agreement, not the same as a general partnership.
This agreement should make it clear that you own this recipe. You own everything associated with your brand and the exclusive right to license your brand to third parties so that there can only be one no-normal-people coffee blend. And since I assume that coffee shops' high hopes aren't only about your success, the agreement should also clearly note how they will be compensated. It's just good to kind of put all that stuff down, make it very clear, as you mentioned, not just a handshake agreement. You'll also want to address liability, what happens if something goes wrong, as well as a timeframe for the agreement.
Of course, that timeframe can be extended, but it's just good to have it there in that agreement. All these things are pretty simple and basic, so a lot of templates will include almost all these items and more. But of course, it's good to make sure that everything is applicable to the regulations in your specific area. All right, Steven, good luck. Keep us posted.
Listeners, if you have a question or an update, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. I should call that slash updates. Right now, it's just questions, but we do look at everything that comes through that page. It's really exciting to hear what our listeners are up to. So let me know, and I hope you'll continue to join me.
You can subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Saddasoul School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
