Family business: how to successfully work with friends or relatives

Working together with her best friend, romantic partner or a close relative of sounds like an ideal: you can easily negotiate, trust each other and have a good time together. But in case of failure, you risk losing not only the dream of owning your own business and money, but also of a loved one. Heroine was important rules to work with friends or relatives.

1. Choose someone with whom you can spend a lot of time

If you love a friend or family member only in limited doses - it is not the best for overall business people. You will have to spend a lot of difficult days and nights of intense together, so you need a partner, not just a friend.

Joint work will inevitably be reflected in your relationship. Therefore, if you think about how to create a business with someone, ask yourself, are you ready to spend the entire next day and still love it?

2. Do not mix business with personal

This is one of the most important rules of collaboration. Immediately set clear boundaries between the professional sphere and friendship. When you do business, first talk about business, and then you can go to other topics. Conversely, avoid the discussion of the work during the holidays. It's not easy to do, but in the end nothing will interfere with your communication and work.

3. Prevent conflicts

When you start working with someone, conflicts are inevitable. Unlike friendship in business, they can also affect the success of your business.

Respect each other, trust, and create opportunities for open communication. Popular wisdom: "Do not go to bed angry" is applicable not only to romantic relationships, but also to the business. Immediately tell each other about what is bothering you. This will help prevent disputes without bringing them before a serious conflict.

4. Trust - the key thing in partnership

In business there is often no time to coordinate every petty decision. It is important to share with each other by a common vision of how to develop your business and to set specific goals, then you will be able to make better choices, without saying a word.

The great advantage to work with someone - you trust him ethically, financially and in all other respects. When between you already have an inviolable personal relationship, you can be honest and to feel safe and not have to worry about many things. Perhaps that is why there are so many successful and stable family-owned companies.

5. Do not neglect the formalities

A common mistake in business, built on friendship, - avoiding formalities and do everything "on parole". Clear legal agreement will protect all stakeholders and not only spoil a personal relationship, but rather help to preserve them and a clear distinction between work and the rest of life.

Keep not only documentation required by law, but one that will help you personally: to contract, constitutes an agreement, create written protocols. Keep a record of all your actions. To start a business - big exciting step formalities help to be sure that you and your partner have equal rights in terms of the obligations and finance.

6. Use your differences for the benefit of business

While it is essential that you share a common vision of your business, work with those who have a different opinion and different from your experience can go in your favor. For example, you will be able to properly separate the roles. One of you will be involved in marketing, reporting, finance, and the other responsible for the creative part of the process and product development. Well, if you have different skills and they correspond to your desires. If something your aspirations are crossed, looking compromise and distribute the work evenly.

7. Stay connected

It is important for those who have to do business in different locations, for example, one of you will have to travel frequently on business, and the other has to stay and keep an eye on things.

Remember that, although you are not required to agree with each other every action, constant contact is very important. Take time to regularly keep each other informed of what is happening in your business.

8. Do not forget that you are friends

Rigid boundaries and constant immersion in the work can eventually make you forget that first and foremost you are friends. As we have said, strong personal relationships are important for the stability of the business, so find an opportunity to maintain your relationship and do not turn into a partner. Dine together, relax and travel outside of the office.