Is it worth doing business with friends and how it can turn out

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Sometimes it's really better not to start a common cause.

This article is part of the One-on-One Project. In it we talk about relationships with ourselves and others. If the topic is close to you, share your story or opinion in the comments. Will wait!

In no case should you start joint projects with relatives, friends and even friends. Otherwise, the matter will not work out, and the relationship will deteriorate. So you should forget about taking a friend to work or starting a common business with him. Or is it the other way around: there is nothing wrong with that, and if you still want to, you can take the risk?

What Can Go Wrong When Working With a Friend

The advantages of a joint business or joint work in this case are obvious. Always there is a close person who understands you, laughs at your jokes and knows how to support you. You can rely on him, and in general you are provided with a relaxed and cheerful atmosphere without boring officialdom. But there is also a downside.

Discipline falls

It is easier for strangers to say: "Colleagues, let's keep to the work schedule and not miss the deadline." And it is no longer so easy to be strict with a friend, when he is late for the fifth time and, with a guilty smile, reminds of his problems in his personal life or a downed regime.

Chances are good that you will make mutual indulgences or forgive outright "shoals" and the work process will suffer from this. And if one of you shows severity and "turns on" an angry boss, the other side may be offended: "Well, what are you doing, we are friends."

Personal relationships interfere with professional

Resentments, omissions and other problems will almost inevitably affect the work. Let's say you had a quarrel over a personal issue - as friends, not as business partners - and the next day a friend answers in monosyllables, tries to challenge any of your decisions, and sabotages any of your ideas.

Or one of you is used to being a little bit in charge. And at work he does the same, even if he is a subordinate, not a leader: he is familiar, does not comply with agreements, requires a special attitude.

It becomes difficult to extinguish conflicts

If a dispute has arisen with colleagues or partners, you most often remain exclusively in the professional field. Make arguments, build on past experience, and adhere to business ethics.

But if a conflict began between you and your friend, and at the same time you are also business partners, everything becomes more complicated. Because your personal relationships, past grievances, and all sorts of “forever you”, “don't need it again”, “I've been telling you for ten years now,” and others “we decided then, at your birthday party,” immediately mingle with the situation ….

In addition, with a loved one, it can be more difficult to show severity or even harshness, to defend your position.

When you definitely shouldn't start a common business with a friend

He is irresponsible

It is quite possible that he is just charming person, amazing jokes and in general you love him very much. But at the same time, a friend constantly breaks deadlines, scores on business, disappears, looks for himself, squanders money and does not stay at any job for more than a couple of months.

It is rather risky to hope that a common cause will force such a person to behave in a fundamentally different way. And no matter how unfortunate it is, in this case, it is better to leave the relationship exclusively in a friendly way.

He pulls the blanket over himself

I got used to impose my opinion, argue, firmly defend my position and take care, first of all, of my own interests. If he behaves this way in relationships with loved ones, most likely, when you become colleagues, nothing will change significantly. And you won't even notice how it happened that a friend gets more money, and you get more work.

He's a manipulator and a drama queen

Any conflict - and it appeals to your conscience, presses on the feeling of guilt, arranges scenes, laments that no one needs it and no one appreciates it. It is difficult to endure in personal relationships, but at work, where, in general, we are talking about money and obligations to other people, it is completely impossible. Especially if you give in to all these tantrums and do not know how to put the manipulator in place.

How to build a business relationship with a friend

Auditor and tax consultant Alla Milyutina in her book "" writes that it is still possible to build a common business with friends. But there are a few rules to follow.

Formalize your relationship

Friendship is one thing, business is another. You need to forget about the insidious mantra "A friend will never deceive or betray" and behave as if in front of you is a complete stranger.

If you ordered services from a third-party specialist, and even more so started a large joint project, you would almost certainly enter into a formal agreement, which would indicate the obligations of the parties and the responsibility of each participant in case of violation of the terms.

When working with a friend or relative, you should do the same. All "papers" must be drawn up, income and obligations - spelled out.

Negotiate everything on the shore

Discuss all the conditions and obligations immediately, do not leave anything behind the scenes. Do not think: "We are friends, we will somehow sort it out later." Work requires order, and if you have not agreed on something in advance, you have too much space left to interpret the situation in one direction or another.

For example, you decided to open a cafe, invested money. Then there were unforeseen expenses, but the friend did not have any more funds. So you spent yours, and when you asked for a return, it turned out that the partner regarded it as a gratuitous contribution to a common cause, and not as a loan. But if you had discussed it from the very beginning, or even better - formalized it, an unpleasant aftertaste could have been avoided.

Handle money with care

It seems that you can safely entrust any amount to a friend without requiring strict reporting. This is not true. If a friend takes money from a common "fund", be sure to ask what they are needed for, and specify when he will return it.

Feel free to ask for a receipt. When everything is documented, there is no reason for doubt, mistrust and deception. The debtor will feel a great responsibility, he will not have a chance to delay the payment and release everything on the brakes under the pretext "we are friends."

Trust but verify

Unfortunately, even a loved one is capable of deceiving. And this possibility cannot be ruled out. So if a friend has access to money and documents, or in general there is room for fraud, be on the lookout. Do your bookkeeping carefully, check all the papers, keep track of the proceeds. And think in advance what you will do if you find deception.