Very sticky partnership issue.........

Profits and wages are 2 diff. things.
All three of you could be paid the same wage to make things equal to be certain you are all paid equal for your labor hours.
Profits are the coins left over after all expenses including wages are paid.

Since you are bringing the Dough to the op, you need to be repaid plus some for taking the risk.
Determine what the number you want is.
If your investment is $1,000, and you want to be repaid $1,300 on the loan, structure an escalating repayment plan through the business.
Example
After the first 3 months you start collecting $50/mo above and beyond your labor rate.
3 months later that number bumps to $100/mo, the three months later your number jumps to $150/mo etc, until the loan is repaid.
However, This is a very complex and possibly family relationship ending issue and as it very well may end the relationship you have with your sister and Bro-in-law. I really only feel comfortable with telling you to GO IT ALONE and hire them for an hourly wage. If she is bringing some special talent to the table, reward her for that through her pay plan.
example ( if she is able to get you the accounts) pay her a commish on them. If she gets you a $40/mo account, she gets 10% ($4/month) above and beyond what she is earning for her labor.
Hope this helps,
I will end by saying this
DO NOT GO INTO BUSINESS WITH A FAMILY MEMBER.
Best of luck,

Jason

> Hello. I hope someone can help me with a sensitive business matter. I am
> seriously considering starting an office cleaning business with my sister
> and her husband. At the start we have to deal with the possibly sticky
> matter of how to split the profits. What I would be bringing to the table
> is the capital, and ongoing hands-on involvement. My sister would be
> bringing some experience from when she lived in a different state. At that
> time she had a property management company. Of course, she would also be
> hands-on, as will be her husband. When the business is up and running the
> plan would be for the three of us to be paid wages, based upon how much we
> each actually get directly involved in the cleaning. Later on, as the
> business grew we would hire cleaning help.

> The chief question I would like to throw out to the folks in this forum is
> how should the business profits be split. Should my sister and her husband
> be treated as one half of the partnership, with me as the other, having
> the profits being split 50/50? Or is it more equitable to spilt the
> profits three ways?

> Another question concerns the legal form. Would forming an LLC be best? In
> her previous business my sister said she enjoyed tax advantages because
> she, as the principle owner, is a woman. I told her I didn't think that
> arrangement would work here, since I would be an equal owner and a man.