How to Tell Which Friends and Family Members You Can Go Into Business With

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Before we get right into it I feel I need to come out with some kind of disclaimer. This isn’t the be-all and end-all of advice with regards to gauging whether or not your endeavour with friends and family is going to work out. Rather, it’s just a means through which to begin the process of feeling out whether or not it’s worth a try as there are some rather glaringly obvious cases which suggest that you’d be setting yourself up for failure trying to go into business with a particular loved-one or a particular group of people who are close to you.

The existing narrative is that one should never even consider going into business with friends and family, with the common reason cited being that of the suggestion that it simply won’t work. Apparently the lines which separate your relationships in their personal capacity from what would be their professional capacity are all the way blurred, but if you took a closer look at who the givers of this kind of advice are, it’s likely those establishments which would lose a lot should more people decide to band together and go into business for themselves.

So how do you tell whether or not a joint foray into business with the loved ones in question will work? There are some indicators to look out for, and again I must state that this is not gospel.

A desire to pursue business endeavours

In your reading of the signs and mannerisms of those loved ones you’re possibly considering getting into business with, you have to pay attention to their hopes, dreams and desires. I mean there’s nothing wrong with discussing the here-and-now of your social lives, like sports, etc, but how do they approach their discussion of topics such as business and investment? Do they watch shows like Dragon’s Den maybe?

A desire and willingness to learn and grow

It’s one thing harbouring an interest in business and investment, but another thing altogether demonstrating an interest in starting somewhere to try and make something happen. Do your loved ones discuss ideas and challenge them as well? If they perhaps offer some of their own insight into all which is featured on shows like Dragon’s Den then you potentially have a winner by way of a partner to get into business with, regardless of the personal relationship you have with them.

How they handle their personal financial affairs

Society has taught us that it’s okay to be a little reckless with our spending when it comes to showing our loved ones just how much they mean to us, but even when it comes to the entertainment of something like birthday gift ideas you can kind of tell who has the entrepreneurial spirit burning inside of them. If they are sensible about something like the gifts they buy, opting more for value and practicality over overly lavish nothingness gifts, you have a potential winner to partner up with.

It’s in their handling of their everyday, personal finances wherein the clues reside.



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