#48 Should I go into business with my friend? 4 things to think about.

“Should I start a business with my friend?” Hmm, it’s a tricky question, but
one definitely worth thinking seriously about, because most business
partnerships that start in friendship seem to end in tears.

That might sound melodramatic but when I think back to all the business
partnerships that I’ve come across over, say, the last 10 years (which
would be more than 200 businesses, although some barely got off the
ground) only a handful emerged unscathed.

That’s not to say don’t do it. Having a business partner can be fantastic. If
you find the right person then you’ll have a better business than if you
go it alone. And it’ll probably be more fun too.

But just because someone is your friend, doesn’t mean she’ll make a good business bedfellow.

When people ask me whether they should go into business with their friend, I
get them to answer these questions. It’s not an exhaustive list but I
know that if many of the business partners who’ve had a rocky ride had
answered these before they’d started, they probably would have done
things differently.

1. Do we want the same things out of the business?

“Are we in this business for the same reasons?” is, to me, the biggest
question. I think you need to get really honest about what you want/need
the business to do for you in terms of money and what you are prepared
to invest in terms of time. If there’s a bigger purpose to the business
that you both believe in and are motivated by (helping people in some
way) all the better.

Being in business for the same reasons will help you get through the wobbly
times when the business seems to be sucking your time without giving you
enough in return. And it will help you navigate the tricky times such
as when you or your business partner starts or expands her family.

2. Do we have the similar values?

It’s often hard to articulate one’s own values, but really it’s just about
the way you do things and within that, what you hold as important.

A tiddly example is time keeping. Some people are obsessed about being on
time to places, other people couldn’t give two hoots. If time keeping
is important to you, it’s one of your values.

In a business sense you and your potential business partner may have quite
different values – you may be pernickity about quality while she just
want to get the job done and out of the door. These differences feel
pretty minor to start off with but they become increasingly irritating
the more you work together. Not unlike, some may say, a marriage.

3. Do we have different but complementary skills?

There’s no point in going into business with someone who’s good at the same
things as you, and lousy at the stuff you’re lousy at. You want to find
someone who can do the bits you can’t.

If you’re a marketing/sales person you might want to join forces, for
instance, with a numbers/operations type. Some of the best partnerships
I’ve ever seen are where a quiet and studious technology geek joins up
with a sociable marketing maven. As friends you wouldn’t put them
together, but as business partners they are amazing.

4. Do we talk straight with one another?

Finally, can you tell your friend exactly what you’re thinking, without worrying about hurting her feelings?

Many of the business partnerships I know that failed did so because the
partners couldn’t talk to each other about the less than pleasant stuff.
Small things grew into big resentments because they weren’t discussed
and knocked on the head early enough.

And finally….

My last piece of advice would be this. If you’re keen to have a business
partner, work out all the characteristics you would like that partner to
have, then go looking for someone who’s got them. If that person turns
out to be your friend, fabulous. If not then in the long run you’ll be
happier having kept the friendship and business separate.

Comments

comments