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    Engineer kicks out friend-turned-partner after letting him buy into his already-thriving workshop for $1,700, watching him work two hours a day, and now the friend is demanding $3,000 and claims he owns the brand: 'My productivity literally doubled'

    Author image for Etai Eshet
    Etai Eshet • Editor
    Jun 12, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

    When someone begs to join your already-running business, shows up for two hours a day, contributes nothing to overhead, and then demands ownership of assets that existed before they ever walked through the door, that is not a partnership dispute. That is a squatter with an invoice.

    A mechatronics engineer running a fully operational custom woodworking shop with 200 clients, established branding, and a complete workshop somehow ended up in a business dispute with a guy who invested $1,700, worked two hours a day, lectured him about values while freeloading, and is now demanding $3,000 plus monthly installments and partial ownership of a brand that was thriving before he ever showed up, which is an impressive set of demands from someone whose most recent financial disclosure was that he only had $25 on him.

    The timeline is important. The brand existed. The 200 clients existed. The workshop, the tools, the portfolio, all of it was already there and generating real business before a single peso changed hands. What EP bought into was not a business he helped build. It was a seat at a table someone else built, furnished, and was already eating at. The $1,700 entry fee did not purchase equity in a brand. It purchased the privilege of showing up late to a functioning operation and leaving early.

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    • Man using a tablet beside a CNC woodworking machine in a busy workshop.
      via Getty Images For Unsplash+

       model portraying a workshop owner back at work after ending a messy business partnership.

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    • Hey Reddit, I need to vent and get some perspective on this absolute nightmare of an ex-business partner (let's call him EP).
      via VoiceTight235
    • Hey Reddit, I need to vent and get some perspective on this absolute nightmare of an ex-business partner (let's call him EP).
      via VoiceTight235
    • To give you some context, I'm a mechatronics engineer running a digital manufacturing and custom woodworking shop. A few months
      via VoiceTight235
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    • ago, EP-who was a friend at the time-begged to join my business. Against my better judgment, I agreed and let him buy in with a small initial investment of roughly $30,000 MXN (around $1,700 USD).
      via VoiceTight235
    • Two workers moving through a bright woodworking shop with large machines, lumber, and tools.
      via Pickawood

      Models portraying a woodworking shop partners during a business partnership dispute

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    • Here's the catch: Before he even put in a single cent, I ALREADY had the brand established, a fully functional workshop space, tools, and a portfolio with over 200 active clients from a year prior.
      via VoiceTight235
    • Once we started, I quickly realized I was running a one-man show while he was just an expensive helper. I was solely responsible for:
      via VoiceTight235
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    • Customer service and sales Marketing and branding CAD design and 5-axis CNC programming (CAM)
      via VoiceTight235
    • Assembly, welding, and structural work Painting, finishing (lacquering), and shipping
      via VoiceTight235
    • Man operating a woodworking machine in a busy workshop with tools, lumber, and cabinets around him.
      via Getty Images For Unsplash+

      a model portraying a workshop owner focused on his craft after cutting ties with a difficult business partner.

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    • After a few weeks, EP started showing up late. Our agreed hours were 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM. He gradually started showing up at 9:00
      via VoiceTight235
    • AM, then 10:00 AM, and by the time I finally confronted him, he was rolling in at 11:00 AM and leaving at 1:00 PM. Two hours of basic manual labor a day, while expecting an equal split of the profits.
      via VoiceTight235
    • I had enough and told him the partnership was over and that I would buy him out. If we go by the book and value the business solely on hard assets and depreciated equipment, his actual share is worth less than $600 USD ($10,000 MXN).
      via VoiceTight235
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    • His initial investment was swallowed months ago by operational costs he never contributed to (shop rent, logistics, truck maintenance, materials, etc.).
      via VoiceTight235
    • Now, EP is throwing a tantrum. He is demanding that my pre-existing brand name, social media pages, and client list be included in the valuation so he can get a massive
      via VoiceTight235
    • Now, EP is throwing a tantrum. He is demanding that my pre-existing brand name, social media pages, and client list be included in the valuation so he can get a massive
      via VoiceTight235
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    • payout. I flat out told him no, since the business didn't create those assets; I brought them in.
      via VoiceTight235
    • In an effort to avoid drama and just get this leech out of my life, I stupidly told him during a weak moment that I was thinking about
      via VoiceTight235
    • giving him a flat $3,000 USD ($50,000 MXN) just to walk away. He immediately locked onto that number as if it were a mandatory legal debt. Now he's demanding
      via VoiceTight235
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    • monthly installments on specific dates, completely ignoring the cash flow reality of a manufacturing shop, and throwing passive-aggressive fits whenever a personal or family emergency delays a payment.
      via VoiceTight235
    • On top of being completely useless under a roof, he has always looked down on my engineering work, constantly acting superior and using || his "devout Chri i morals to lecture me while actively freeloading off my back.
      via VoiceTight235
    • The Malicious Compliance: Last week, he got controlling and demanded an itemized Spreadsheet of every single project because he thought I was underpaying his "share".
      via VoiceTight235
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    • He literally said, "I don't work with approximations." So, I took him up on it. I descaled every single cost down to the exact milliliter of thinner, every
      via VoiceTight235
    • screw, every drop of wood glue, and the actual wear on the CNC bits.
      via VoiceTight235
    • Guess what? When the math was done without "approximations," the overhead was so high that he actually OWED me around $115 USD ($2,000 MXN). His
      via VoiceTight235
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    • response? "Whatever, I only have $25 bucks on me right now," and he just played dumb.
      via VoiceTight235
    • I recently worked alone for a couple of days while he flaked, and my productivity literally doubled without his noise in
      via VoiceTight235
    • the system. My plan is to pay him the remainder of the $3,000 USD I promised just to secure my freedom, but on the very last payment day, I
      via VoiceTight235
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    • am going to drop a brutal, raw data spreadsheet on him showing that his assets were only worth $600 USD, and that the extra $2,400 USD was a charity donation from me to get him out of my sight.
      via VoiceTight235
    • Am I the ah le here for hole wanting to completely crush his ego with data on his way out?
      via VoiceTight235

    • The hours our perfect partner gave the business follow a very familiar arc. Seven thirty becomes nine becomes ten becomes eleven, and somewhere in that slide the person doing it genuinely stops noticing because they have reclassified their own presence as a contribution. Two hours of basic manual labor while the other person handles sales, design, CNC programming, welding, finishing, logistics, and customer service is not an equal partnership. It is an internship where the intern also wants half the profits.

      A malicious compliance spreadsheet is a genuinely beautiful piece of work. He wanted no approximations, so he got no approximations. Every milliliter of thinner. Every screw. Every fraction of a CNC bit's lifespan accounted for at cost. The math came back showing he owed money and his response was to say he only had twenty-five dollars on him and move on, which is the financial equivalent of checking out of a hotel and leaving a mess.

      Paying the $3,000 to secure a clean exit is a business decision with a very clear return on investment, specifically the return of being able to work without someone else's noise in the system.

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