Thread: Would you ever go into a partnership with a friend?

I am talking about a business venture here. I have heard of people doing this and it ending horrifically bad.

Someone I am close with online mentioned starting up an online business and wants to run it with me. At first I was all excited but now I am having second guesses on it and I am getting cold feet. I feel like it can be something that backfires on me and I end up with nothing when all is said and done.

Would you ever go into a partnership with a friend?

Maybe. It all depends on what the two of us can offer each other, and how we can go about achieving what we want our enterprise to achieve.

The best way to lose a friend is to put money in the equation.

Originally Posted by S1LVERST@R35

The best way to lose a friend is to put money in the equation.

This is what I was thinking. I have seen people win money from the lottery and lose all their friends so mixing work and money has to be even worse.

I try to separate business and friends as much as possible. A safe middle-ground is supporting them in getting a job or being a professional reference for them.

You know my parents and grandparents always told me never to mix business and friendship more so having distant relatives to work for you or have them as partners.

Well I didn't listen and opened up a business along with my 3 closest friends. After a year things got messy and we all had a big fight. I haven't seen or spoke with 2 of them for 10 years now. So now I know that having friends as business partners is not a good idea because you're risking your friendship.

Hiring a distant relative is also a problem because there would always be issues of favoritism and trust also reprimanding them usually causes issues between families.

I agree with you completely. Making your friends Business Partners is a very risky thing because business always takes precedence over friendship. While true friendship is always more important than money.

Mixing friends with business never works, no matter what you want to tell yourself. If you have a best friend and still cherish that friendship, it is better not to get into business together.

Getting into a partnership with a friend only ends one way, in disaster. First, you kiss your friendship goodbye and second, you develop hatred for someone you had a ton of respect and love for. Trust me, it is not worth it.

I have done this before, and it never ended well. Way back 2012 I started a logistics business with a friend of mine, and he's my cousin too. At first, we were hitting it off and share ideas with one another, so I thought it was great. Then after a year, he suddenly changed and started to become greedy about the business. To sum it all up, he took advantage of me, and I realized that the best thing I could do is to sell my shares to him. The business went great for a few months, and he wanted to be the sole proprietor, he wants to gain all the credit for himself. So I learned a lesson that I would never be partners with anyone especially family when it comes to business.

Everyone wants to have it all at some point. Lately, I heard that the company is having problems financially and I'm glad I'm not a part of it anymore and took back all of my investments.