You and your best friend are looking into starting a business together. You have done all your research on the type of business you want to start. You have talked to some financial backers and are ready to go. Or are you? There are at least three things you should know before starting a business with a friend.
Get it all in writing: You may have been friends since kindergarten but money does strange things to people. Its in the best interest to you both to sit down and get all of your business details in writing. Who is the owner and who is the co owner. How much profit from the business does each person receive? Make sure that all of these business related details are fully documented, dated and signed by each person. This is just one of the precautions you should take prior to the beginning of your business partnership.
Prepare for the worst: If in the event you and your friend have a fall out, be prepared. When partnering with anyone in business affairs you risk having to battle it out over company events and money. People can become very power hungry, selfish and greedy. Money after all is the source of all evil. If this is to happen its best that you have all of your business details documented as stated above. Also make sure you have mentally prepared yourself for such an event. It can be a heart wrenching and stressful occurrence. It is healthier for you to have at least considered that this is a possibility.
Protect yourself: Be wise in what you do with the business. Take care of your finances. Save money when possible and keep detailed track of both incoming and outgoing cash flow. If there was a falling out of sorts between you and your business partner you want to make sure you are financially secure. You protect yourself this way as well as keeping good book keeping records. Once again people do become a type of Jekyl and Hyde with money. Its not selfish to be sure that you are safe. Business affairs can become scandalous and overwhelming. You just want to make sure when its all over you come out on top.
Keep these three things in mind, documentation, preparation and protection. This information is not to make you feel paranoid. Its not meant to make you suspicious of your friend either. These are just pieces of information that are important in keeping you safe. Its a simple fact in the world of money. Business is serious and should be taken so. Think before you leap and you and your friend will both start on a safe path to a beautiful business relationship.
Starting A Business Partnership
A) the employee mentality, and B) most people have not developed their ability to generate business ideas. Let us deal with each one in turn.
A) There are many reasons why an employee should want to start a business but three are worth thinking about.
i) The difference between having your own business and having a job is the difference between buying a house and renting a house. If you rent a house you have all the satisfaction of living in a house, but at the end of the day you own nothing and can be evicted as quickly as you became a tenant.
A job is just like a renting a house. However, your own business depends on you, because you are its owner, and at the end of the day it may leave you with considerable personal wealth.
ii) You are a unique person. The vast majority of employers do not recognise your uniqueness. It is said the universe is twenty billion years old and will last at least as long again. In all the time to come there will never be another person just like you. You are a unique creation.
How does an employer treat a unique creation like you? They make you fit into a box where the walls are your job description. Many people before you had to fit into the same box and many people after you will have to do the same. You were not created to spend your life following orders, doing repetitive tasks and being just like other people.
In contrast running your own business offers you the opportunity to make unique achievements, to build a unique business, which mirrors your personality, and to stamp the world with your mark.
iii) If you do not want to start a business to create personal wealth or to satisfy your ego then start a business to help other people.
Every time a person offers others a new product or service, he or she increases their freedom of choice. There is not a better way to help other people than by giving them more freedom. With the extra freedom, the jobs created and extra taxes paid, it could be argued that founding a successful business is the most socially useful thing anyone can do.
Instead of choosing between i), ii) or iii) as a reason for starting a business, all three become interlocked and are a consequence of a successful business.
B) Most people unfamiliar with starting a business, struggle to generate business ideas and that's where subscription to this web site come in. The ideas contained in the articles on this site will help you to generate ideas for yourself.
The only difference between people that are successful and those that aren't is that they took action. Action is the key to success, without action, your idea will never be anything more than an electrical impulse locked away in your brain.
Both Obinna Heche & Nick James are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.