How To Start Up A Business With A Friend And Stay Friends
They say you should never mix business with pleasure, but if you and a friend have a great idea for a company, who’s to say it won’t work?
In actual fact, working with a close friend can be a fantastic venture, you just need to be smart with how you do it.
With your combined expertise and skills and not having to get to know each other, a friend can make a great business partner.
You both have the same interests, won’t want to hurt each other, and will have loyalty. In this article, we take a look at how you can start up a business with a friend and stay friends.
Why start up your own business?
There are so many reasons to start up your own business. Perhaps it’s something you and a friend have talked about for a long time but now is the right time to get started. Some benefits of starting your own business include:
- You get the chance to work on your passion;
- You can work flexible hours;
- There’s no limit to what you can earn;
- You can do the roles you love to do.
How can you start a business with a friend and stay friends?
When you decide to start a business with a friend, you need to ensure you put some things into place to stop it from impacting your friendship. Running a company is no easy feat and there will be times when you feel stressed, anxious and money worries get in the way.
By following these guidelines, you should hopefully be able to differentiate work and friendship and ensure you both stay happy with each other and enjoy working together too. Some top pieces of advice include:
Ensure you’re both clear on what the business is
When starting out you need to make sure you’re both on the same page. Have a meeting and be clear on what exactly the business is going to be, what your roles are and that you have a business plan in place.
Have clear goals which you both agree on, such as what marketing agency to use to help you build your company, where you will work from and any hires you make. Ensure you’re both happy with the direction you want the business to go. This can ensure you’re clear on what you both expect from eachother.
Have everything in writing
While we never want anything to go wrong when running a business, sometimes things can go a little pear-shaped.
With this in mind, make sure you have everything in writing, including if one of you put more money in as an investment, what your roles are, and how you will separate the business if you do decide to dissolve or split it further in the future.
You should detail things such as your percentage of ownership and who gets what – a bit like a prenup for a marriage!
Separate work from fun
When you run a business together, it can be easy for this to be the only thing you talk about as you have a shared interest and passion in it. While this is fine, you also want to ensure you have fun together and remember just why you’re friends in the first place. Make time to go out together, and while there, have a pact to not talk about work or get the work talk out of the way in the first ten minutes and then just have fun.
Always communicate
As with any relationship in life, communication is key. If you have an issue or something that isn’t working out as it should, you talk about it. So many things fail simply because people don’t talk to each other about what is bothering them and then let it build up.
By communicating clearly you can nip any issues in the bud before they escalate.
These are just a few top tips that can help you start up a business with a friend and stay friends. While you might hear of horror stories of people falling out when they start up a business together, there are countless examples of how you can do it successfully.
You need to keep the reason you’re friends in the forefront of your mind at all times and separate work and friendship.
If for any reason it doesn’t work out with your company, don’t let this come between you both and ruin the friendship you have. A lot of people find running a business together actually brings them even closer!
Have you ever started a business with a friend? If so, what are some ways you can advise to help people remain friends? Let us know in the comments below.
