This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Welcome, welcome to Side Hustle School. This is Chris Guillebeau. We've got a great question today from a listener who's thinking about starting a business with their best friend, BFF Business. This is a common scenario for friends to talk about going into business together. It's also not uncommon to have concerns about how it might impact the relationship.
And sometimes what happens is one person has more concerns than the other. So let's dive into this question, help our caller figure out if starting a design business with their best friend is the right move and what they can do to protect their friendship either way. All right, key point there. Let's get to it. Should I go into business with my friend?
[Music]
Hi, this is Emily and I'm enjoying the show. I also read the $100 startup and I'm ready to move forward with my longtime dream of running my own business. Specifically, I'm considering starting a design business with my best friend, but I just have a few concerns about the impact it could have on our friendship. She's eager to get started, but I'm the more cautious one. How can I determine if this is the right decision for both of us and what steps should I take to ensure our friendship remains intact?
[Music]
All right, listen up. Well, I think, gosh, this is a tricky one, right? Because I think it sounds like our caller is in a bit of a tricky situation. Like there's an opportunity, obviously. An opportunity, it's fun to do stuff with your friend.
Your friend is really eager to get started. But the tricky situation is that this caller, in fact, has some reservations or some concerns. And I think that's wise, actually, because starting a business with a friend can be both exciting and challenging. It's important to approach it with that caution to avoid putting your friendship at risk. In fact, that's probably the most important thing, right?
You wanna protect that friendship. So if you're gonna do that in a practical sense, I think the first thing is to make sure you're really on the same page about the direction that you want this business to go in. And also how you plan to divide responsibilities and handle any conflicts, just really specifically, like who's gonna do what here and what are we trying to accomplish? Not just in the next few weeks or a few months, but long-term, if we have an answer for that. And ideally, you have the same kind of answer, at least a similar answer.
But very often, what I've seen is like, what seems like a common vision sometimes can break down over time, or at least it can become strained. And so that's the next thing, just having some regular check-ins. It's just really helpful to try to prevent small issues from becoming bigger problems. So like, look, if we look back at the history of the archives here, more than 2,000 episodes, lots and lots of stories, we've definitely had some really successful projects that are started as partnerships. And in those situations, it's often best if people have different skills, complimentary, but different skills, and also they just maintain really close communication along the way.
Now, of course, we've also had some stories where it just hasn't gone so well, and then things get difficult. And one person has to buy out the other person, or often the business just kind of fails, and people go on to do different stuff. And that's okay, right? But if you're just trying to think proactively about this, I think the first thing is like, maybe there's something else we can just do as friends. Like, we like being friends, but is it really the best thing for us to go into business together?
If yes, then here's what we're gonna do, but it's also okay to say, maybe not. Or maybe if you're more excited about this idea, why don't you just run with this idea yourself? And I'll help you, or I'm happy to be like a friend, an advisor, that kind of thing. So two different ways to do it. Of course, I'm sure there's probably more than two different ways to do it, but two big approaches.
I think most important is, as we said, to kind of protect that friendship, while also making sure you are pursuing your own dreams, because that's important too. So I wish our caller and everybody out there good luck. I hope you make the best decisions for both of you in this situation, but really the best decisions for yourself. That's what I'm always rooting for you and cheering you on. I hope you take action on your ideas.
I hope you remember you're not alone. And of course, I hope you keep listening, because hey, this podcast, it's all completely free. We've got a new episode every day. Much more is coming up. Thanks for joining me.
This is Chris Guillebeau. The podcast is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
