Starting a business with a friend?
I am in junior high and I’m going to start a business. I had color flyers printed at kinkos and everything. My plan is to offer services (such as yard work, cleaning, dog walking/dog care, babysitting). I am planning on charging fees varying from – per hour, depending on the task and circumstances (babysitting would be more expensive than dog walking, for example).
In the past, I’ve had businesses with friends, but it hasn’t worked out well for a number of reasons. The first one, we were very young and it didn’t work out, but the second time, I think it was because it was hard to manage business and friendship and not let our friendship be drowned out by the business. Also, one of the two others I did the last business with really didn’t grasp concepts of business very well.
With my new business, I was considering doing another business with friends, but I’m not sure if I should or not. Actually, I have two other friends who have been trying to do business but have been unable to keep it up (I am ambitious enough to take charge if nobody else will, which is both a strength and a weakness), and a third friend who saw a flyer on my fridge and wanted to do it with me. I told her I wasn’t sure about doing it with friends yet.
What are the pros and the cons of doing a business with friends, for a middle school girl? Please be thorough and tell me what you think. Thank you.
Please DO NOT advertise ANYTHING to me. I’m not interested in any products or programs, and I won’t call you or email you.
Usually they just follow me, which is what really bothers me.
I’ve started three businesses in my life time, 2 of which were quite successful. I started one of these with 3 other partners. What I found was that I ended up doing all of the work, and they just stood back and enjoy the fruits of my labor and once in a while they would criticize me, which would baffle me because I was the only one working. I’ve heard very similar stories from other businessmen and women, about disaster partners. I had to eventually part ways with 2 of my partners and the other one is picking up slack. Don’t get me wrong, I’m best of friends with all three, and if I couldn’t make it work with these men, I couldn’t do it with anyone else.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t work with anyone else, you should just be careful with the ownership of your venture. You should be in control and make all the final decisions. You can always take their input, but as long as you have the final say, you’re still in charge. This will save your friendships and your hair.
I applaud you ambition. If I were you, I would do it myself until you had too many jobs to handle yourself, then maybe bring in 1 person that you could trust. If you are the "owner" of said business, then treat the new person as a sub-contractor. Pay them like a dollar less per hour if you lined up the job for them to do and you keep the extra dollar for your trouble.
And remember as you get older or if you start making a lot of money, somebody is going to have to pay taxes. Good luck though.
I began a business with a friend over 20 yrs ago and it worked out very well. But, business will test your friendship often. At your young age, it may prove to be a good experience for you to try.
But, they must apply equal effort, don’t allow them to just follow you, this is not a partnership.