Revenue Share Agreement Template: Fill & Download for Free

*Legal Disclaimer - I AM NOT A LAWYER*This is just a suggestion - not to be taken as advice...Here's a rough example - I would get a lawyer to amend this however...http://contracts.onecle.com/blockbuster/columbia.rsa.1998.08.25.shtml

One of the key best practices in calculating and paying is to always have a sales commission contract (agreement) as a formal contract between a company and a salesperson to capture the terms and conditions of revenue share which suits all parties involved: Sales Commission Agreement Template & Best PracticesSuch an agreement is one of the most challenging parts of growing a successful sales team - a culture of high performance and loyalty. It allows to nail your commission contract with prospective sales talents and, having an airtight sales commission agreement keeps all parties honest to the commitments they’ve made to each other, thus mitigating the risk of stealing clients, under-the-table deals, and lack of motivation.You can apply your commission agreement when you bring on a new sales representative, promote an associate to a sales agent, or in any situation where you may pay a stakeholder in the form of a revenue share.A commission is a type of variable remuneration based on the level of performance from an individual or business. It’s where a company will reward a salesperson with a commission fee based on the amount of revenue they generate.The guide above also provides some best practices when using commission contracts, to facilitate reaching a mutually beneficial agreement in such a case as well as its template.

Edited to add some costs on the legal side.Starting an investment partnership is quite easy and inexpensive unlike starting a hedge fund, especially since you are focused on what Warren Buffett first started with.It's laid out pretty clearly in The Snowball Effect and few regulations or laws have changed but some costs have gone up. Having researched Buffett, partnerships, etc for many years and having started a private investment firm in the past, I can share my views.You need 3 key things:1) A lawyer to draft the partnership agreement template and register each partnership - Our main lawyer charges $650 per LLC we create including getting an EIN from the IRS so we can open bank accounts (all paperwork, filing fees and custom operating agreement included).His retainer is $2,500 so we could create a few LLCs or partnerships. If it is one LP then he would bill us for his time to create send, collect and file the agreements for each partner in the LP.A realistic cost per LLC is $850 so factor that into the minimum amount of money you would accept for a partnership. If you want to save money then you can do everything yourself using LegalZoom and the IRS website for 1/3 the cost, minus the legal advice of course.Our lawyers working on a fund of funds we are setting up have a retainer of $10k but are "brand name" and have 15 offices around the country. This would be unnecessary for you at this point.2) A brokerage account to trade3) An accountant to provide financial reports for tax purposesNone of these are expensive and overhead can be extremely low. The next steps are to figure out what legal structure the partnerships take, your pitch and what your fee structure is.Buffett started off with one partnership, Buffett Associates ltd. and had 6 partners. Instead of adding partners to the original partnership, he created new ones and ended up with some 7 other partnerships because each person he accepted capital from was for a partnership only between himself and them.LocationBuffett worked from home and you can too. You could even deduct the portion of your mortgage that covers your formal office space (rules are fairly strict).He kept expenses low for a long time and poured it into more stocks. You aren't trying to impress any strangers. Your track record and recommendations from existing partners will drive your AUM growth.Legal StructureIt is fairly easy to setup an LP for each partnership or an LLC. An LP would require you to setup a GP - General Partner firm - that is actually managing the LPs. It would be your main company that is the partner with each of the people you will manage money for.The LLC route could be you as an individual member with the partner in each LLC or you create a central LLC for yourself that is a member of each LLC partnership.The Operating Agreement for the LLC would need to explicitly outline the decision-making role of you vs the other member, the compensation structure (how profit is divided and any management fees paid to you - guided by your decision further down).The member LLCs could just pay the management fee to the main LLC and you just worry about the upside split if you do charge a fee.Regulations and registrationYou do not need to register as an Investment Adviser with the SEC because you would have less than US$25m in AUM.You may need to register with your state and a lawyer would guide you.It is critical that you do not publicly offer partnership interests and not exceed 100 members in the partnership so that you benefit from the SEC exemption for private investment companies (I setup one a few years ago).Management feesThis is the most critical decision you will make because it determines the economics of running this as a business or a hobby.According to Buffett in The Snowball Effect, he received 50% of the gains above a 4% threshold otherwise called a hurdle rate. He also did not take a management fee as a percentage of AUM and was liable for 25% of losses.This would be unprecedented today and definitely is not expected. The fund management industry standard is presently 2 and 20 which means 2% management fee per year of AUM and 20% of upside above the hurdle rate.Each fund makes adjustments and the sensible approach based on Buffett's original would be a 0 and 35 which means no fees and 35% upside above the hurdle rate. Note that this rate is critical and you cannot set it too high or you will incur a loss for far too long.Buffett no longer has a set hurdle rate but instead measures himself against the market. Most hedge funds however have a target yield and do not just focus on the market.I would recommend 6% as your benchmark mainly because of the risk-free rates on capital your partners could get plus a premium for the risk they are taking. If you aren't confident you can deliver better than 6% for the year then you shouldn't be actively investing funds for others.With no management fee like Buffett you will need to keep costs low at the outset and cover your living expenses from other money (savings, job, etc). The partners will like that all of their money goes to investments and not lawyers or your pocket to manage the money.Strictly pay for performance.Quick math:AUM = $100kHurdle rate = 6%Performance = 10%Your compensation = $1,400Note that this is for 1 year of investing $100k for others. Now you see why few people start something this small as well as usually charge a management fee. It is still a way to start building a track record though.Buffett was already wealthy when he started and he also had a track record of double digit returns so he knew that compounding would quickly get him to reasonable scale.To earn gross revenue of $50k per year before taxes (which should be the lower capital gains taxes plus deductions for business expenses) you would need to have AUM of $1.43m.This is doable and proves that you could have an investment partnership with $2.5m-$5m under management, charge no upfront fees and still make a good living.It's not what most people in the investing world are aiming for but not everyone needs/wants to attract institutional investors or compete with huge hedge funds.My personal recommendationDon't wait until you have $100k to start. Keep your day job and take the first $5k or $10k from a friend or family member and get going now.Build the track record one small step at a time and let the returns speak for themselves. Sustainable scale comes with delivering returns.Don't focus on the loss you are incurring at the start because it is a long-term investment in your future and every business has some startup costs. Do however try to get scale within 2 years so you can focus full-time on investing the funds.Your 2-year target is $2.5m AUM (in case you fall 50% short you are still above a $40k per year income all things being equal).Be prepared for the stress of managing other people's money and the serious responsibility that comes with it.Definitely keep studying Buffett and his frugal approach.