No, this isn't a pitch for a wireless carrier. When starting a business you must carefully choose partners and employees. When trying to launch a venture with a spouse, a family member or close friend you must consider the future before taking any action. Is going into business with someone familiar less risky than a stranger? You may think so, but doing your homework is the only way to ensure you are indeed on the same page.
Starting a business with someone close to you does have unique challenges. Below are some of the challenges with ideas on how to overcome them.
Challenges:
History - This is an obvious challenge that is not necessarily shared by many business partners. Your history with your spouse, family and friends is probably quite lengthy. Challenges can emerge based on past events and conversations. A great way to overcome this challenge is to leverage your history and make it work for you. You hopefully trust your spouse, family and friends (at least if you are planning on going into business with them). This means you know how to work together successfully and can face challenges and business and life together (after all you've been through a lot with them).
Skill sets - This challenge can arise out of individuals with an unrealistic idea of what they can or will accomplish. Don't bring them into the business just because you don't want them feeling left out. Match the skills and passion of your spouse, family or friends to the areas you need filled within your business. A great relationship can sour quickly if you place an individual in an area they may not have skills or they are not passionate about the role.
Communication - This can be a big challenge to overcome with a spouse, family or friends. People that are close to you know how you communicate, but they also really know how to push your buttons. In business you need to set aside some of the miscommunication problems that may exist for the business to thrive. Communication between all parties should be clear, meaningful and transparent. If there are deadlines, they must be communicated. Do not assume a telepathic relationship just because they may know how you will react or vice versa.
Financials - This challenge is as much based on mutual trust as it is on managing money. If there have been misgivings related to money in the past, it may be worth having an independent bookkeeper or at least hiring outside your family and friends for this role. Money has unique challenges in life as well as business. If you think financials will become a stumbling block take action preemptively.
Passion - This challenge may be a bit tricky to handle, so navigate it with care. If your spouse, family or friends are not passionate about an idea or venture you are pursuing, let them know it is okay. There are other ways to involve them in your venture if they still want to help. You could approach them about being investors instead of having to be involved in the day to day operations. You may also approach them about being advisors for you, to give you an outside perspective on how you are managing your venture. Another alternative would to be even use them as consultants on an as needed or part-time basis. Taking this approach may be a great way to let them test the waters without fearing that they may let you down or not be the right person for the role. Passion is necessary for startups and small businesses, it is the backbone that keeps momentum building within company.
Boundaries - This is a very important challenge to overcome when venturing into business with family or friends. You must set expectations from the beginning and hold people accountable. At the office you may be the boss of your best friend, spouse or even parent. It is important that outside of work you do not continue acting as their boss. If you have a disagreement about work, it needs to stay focused on work and the conversation should not overflow outside of work. This can be especially true if family or friends have invested or loaned you money to get started. They may feel entitled to having more say about the business that their loan needs repayed before all others. At the end of the day, you are running a business and need to focus on making your business successful, but do not do so at the expense of your spouse, family or friends. Do your best to maintain a healthy balance and ask your family and friends to remind you if you overstep outside of work.
Stay focused on making your business a success and do your homework when it comes to partnerships, hiring and maintaining a healthy balance. Family and friends can make great business partners and employees when managed correctly.