Business law
Shareholder agreements: protecting your business and ownership
A shareholder agreement should make the difficult decisions clearer before owners disagree. Makin Advisory can help you align ownership, control, funding and exit arrangements with how the business actually operates.
Is this the help you need?
For founders, existing shareholders and businesses bringing in an owner or revisiting an agreement before investment or growth.
How Makin Advisory can assist
Review voting, board arrangements and important reserved decisions.
Separate share ownership from work contributions, salary and shareholder loans.
Plan funding, new share issues and the consequences of non-participation.
Draft workable transfer, departure, deadlock and valuation mechanisms.
Coordinate guarantees and related employment, IP or commercial agreements.
What a review involves
Provide the shareholding details, constitution, company records, existing agreement and any proposed investment terms. Tell us who contributes money and work, which decisions need consent and what a fair exit means to the owners. We can help identify the choices to agree before drafting or revising the document.
Review your shareholder agreement
Decisions worth getting right
Ownership is not the same as control. A share percentage does not explain every decision right, and too many vetoes can freeze routine operations. Reserve material decisions while leaving clear authority for day-to-day work and urgent decisions.
Model a cash shortfall and a departure before signing. Owners may have unequal capacity to fund the business or buy each other out. Valuation methods need clear dates, assumptions and payment terms. Selling shares also does not automatically release a personal guarantee given to a lender or landlord.
Frequently asked questions
Do equal shares mean equal control?
Not necessarily. Board composition, voting rules, share rights and the constitution affect control. A 50–50 split can also create deadlock if the owners have no workable decision process.
Can we use a shareholder agreement template?
A template may identify topics, but it will not decide which decisions need consent, how funding works or what happens when a founder leaves. Those choices should be discussed before relying on standard wording.
What if one owner cannot contribute more money?
Agree whether additional funding is a loan, a share issue or another arrangement, and how approval and participation work. Dilution and repayment priority have different consequences and need to be understood.
How should a departing owner be valued?
Choose a workable method and specify relevant dates, assumptions, information and who resolves disagreement. A fixed formula can become outdated; a market-value approach still needs instructions.
Does leaving the company release personal guarantees?
No automatic release should be assumed. Check the guarantee and seek the relevant third party’s agreement where required. Coordinate release or replacement security with the ownership exit.
What affects the cost of this work?
Fees depend on the agreed scope, complexity and document volume. Enquire with the documents available and your deadline so we can discuss the work required and its cost before you decide to proceed.
Official resources
official business structures guidance
Related help
when an SME should seek legal advice
Take the next step
Makin Advisory serves Gold Coast and Brisbane clients remotely and in person by appointment. Tell us what you need help with and any relevant deadline; prefer no sensitive documents at first enquiry.
Tell us what you need help with
Tell us briefly what you need help with and any relevant deadline. Please do not include sensitive documents in your initial enquiry.