Starting a business with family or friends has good, bad, and ugly sides. In truth, not starting a business with family members or friends is one of the most common pieces of business advice. Starting a business or joining an existing family-owned business has to take time and consideration before you make a decision.
You are considering entering a business with your spouse, parent, sibling, another relative or a friend. These are people you trust, whom you share memorable moments and forms your tight-knit group. They make up some of the people that matter the most to you. With that, you believe it in your heart that if you are in bad situation, they got your back.
The question is, “is it wise to enter a business with your family or friend?” The answer, “it depends.” The answer is not clear because of your affection for these people. Even experts have disagreements whether it is a good idea to start and operate a business together with the people closest to you. Just like when doing business with other people, doing a people search can help in making your decision.
The Good Side of Working with People Close To You.
To help you make a decision, start by knowing the good things your family or friends must have before you start a business relationship with them. You can do a people search or background check if you need more information. One of these qualities is integrity. If he or she does not possess this quality, it will be too risky to do business with them.
Besides this, two other characteristics that your family and friend must have are persistence and strong work ethic. Most startups today end in failure, the reason why it is important to have a future business partner that remains persistent and dedicated to you through challenges. Additionally, your friend or family member must have strong work ethics.
Any business is stressful and challenging. Against these, your family or friend must be someone you can trust in dealing with work. They must be responsible and dependable as your business partner. Right from the start, it is important that you set your expectations and get an assurance that you can rely on them.
The Bad Qualities You Need to Watch Out for in a Family or Friend.
Just like with working with other people, entering into business with people close to you can also have a bad side. This is especially so if the people you chose to work with have the negative characteristics a businessman must watch out. One of these characteristics is a big ego, which will lead to serious problems in business.
In business, you need someone willing to learn and listen when he or she doesn’t know the answer. Passion is great for business, but not without careful planning and diligence. One of the worse attitudes that a business partner could have is being all talk and no action. If your family member or friend is a talker, your business will likely be too troublesome.
It would make your business environment unproductive when your partner never does anything except talk. If your partner is a talker, he will do great in sales but not as a business partner. You also need a business partner who is passionate but also realistic. You want results and simply talking about it will not make it a reality. You need a partner who actually works.
The Ugly Side of Working with a Family or Friend in Business.
The worst that can happen when you enter a business with a family or friend is a ruined relationship. Already many friends who have good relationships had ended up ruined because of going on a business venture together. They started it with good intentions and entered into business with strong friendships. While some go through trials that made them stronger, others did not.
Seeing as there are good things, bad things and ugly things in doing business with people close to you, it goes to say the decision is not easy to make. You need to consider if your family or friend has the qualities that you look for in a business partner. As someone who knows them personally, you can make the distinction. If not, doing a people search or background check will help you.
