Co-founding with a friend

There is immense risk in starting a new business with a friend. Business does not work as per the friendship rules. In fact they both have a few similarities. Like friendship, start-ups don’t perform as per well maintained guidelines. But that’s where the problem lies. While in case of friendship, everything is okay, in case of start-up it can be disastrous.

Some start-ups have really worked with college friends, but many have not only failed, but also have created a rift between old friends.

When some people share a dream of start-ups, they actually have some small dreams combined together. While a few of those small dreams are the same, many are different. When the dream of two co-founders are different, a crack is inevitable.

A small example, an entrepreneur once decided to start an ice-cream parlor with his close friend. All planning were up to date. But the problem started the day they thought about a vision. They did not share the same vision.

The entrepreneur wanted to grow steadily and expand. The co-founder wanted to open the store just to earn money. He did not have any long term plan. And he was also going slow with everything. The guy with a vision suddenly felt that things were not going as expected.

This created a tension between them and the partnership started fading out. A few days into the business and they had to shut down their shutter.

This difference in vision can seriously end the course of a business and close it down all of a sudden. It’s better to analyse the visions of each co-founder and then decide whether to go for partnership with the person or not. Sometimes, two not-so-close friends or just mates can share the same vision and excel in their vision.

As 90% of start-ups fail to do business and close down, it’s better to be partners with people who can bear the pain of failure. A businessman creates a business, but a visionary creates a vision. A person without any vision can quit any day and that might cause more problems.

Start-ups come and go, but it’s the friendship which we cherish all our life. Starting with friends and failing can seriously damage the friendship. A failed entrepreneur can any day create a new plan. But creating a new friendship out of nothing is impossible. So, it’s better to start a business with a visionary who has the courage to survive the pain of failure.