Features of building a business with close friends

Friendship is good but is it worth it to build a business with a friend? The question is relevant. After all, to run a business, you need to have a shark’s grip so as not to miss the profit, you need to be a strategist so as not to “burn out,” and you need to have a hot mind and an unconscious mind to make optimal decisions. Here are the main rules of doing any business, in which not a word is said about friendship.

In other words, entrepreneurs want to build friendships in business as a last resort. Since the business sphere is a somewhat hostile environment, where such pleasant things as fidelity, family affection, love can quickly scatter like a soap bubble, friendship in business can change its meaning at any moment.

Therefore, starting a business project in which a close friend is expected to be the leading partner, one must seriously think about the advisability of an agreement on such a step. After all, this is an excellent risk for friendship and the success of a common cause.

It never occurred to me before until I tried to start a business with a relative and hire my good friends. It would seem that everyone knows each other, trust, help.

However… From the very first steps when registering a business (this was still the period of the creation of so-called small enterprises), the relative did not like his role prescribed in the documents (at that time, there were not even questions of ownership, only the status in the management system was stipulated). And this is even though this role was negotiated in advance at the very start.

At first, good acquaintances worked well, especially since the remuneration for work was many times higher than the figures they had previously been accustomed to. But you quickly get used to the good. And the “graters” began.

I even threatened one employee with dismissal (this was still practiced exceptionally rarely). And the reason was a frank unwillingness to develop and develop the company, which at that time had already become more than my home for me. Interests began to diverge from former friends quickly.

Of course, not everything is so wrong. These are just negative examples, and there were and are many more positive moments. But now it is clear that it was necessary to better prepare for the negative aspects of doing business with relatives and good friends.

Doing business with a friend has some advantages, according to psychologists. For example, only a friend can show more patience and loyalty to your actions. You know exactly about all his strengths and weaknesses, and indeed, in relationships with friends, you can’t count on deception. But the occurrence of disappointments is possible, and to prevent them, it is necessary to take the measures needed at the initial stage of planning the creation of a common cause.

Here it is worth remembering a good business rule: even at the beginning, before conducting everyday affairs, one should agree on the maximum number of different details and nuances, primarily related to financial relationships.

As in the good old proverb about friendship and tobacco apart, if you manage to define your relationships well, areas of activity and responsibility, if the conditions for implementing a business project are clear and unequivocally perceived, then such a business will flourish and develop, and friendship will grow stronger.

Also Read: Why The Suitable Business Model Is More Important Than Integrity