Lesson 3 – Don’t do business with family and friends
Yep it’s another
lesson I learnt the hard way through the school of real life of managing a
business. It all sounds great – working with those in your life you have an
extra special relationship with – a family member or a really good friend. You've
got each other’s backs and best interest at heart – right? Initially yes.
But it does not work.
Due to this extra
special relationship – things get ‘extra special’ to manage especially when
business-specific matters need to be addressed and the family / friend /
business line needs to be drawn.
The dynamics change
when friendship and business mixes. I have personally found it particularly
challenging to raise performance issues
when working with family / friends. I wanted
to be the compassionate understanding friend, and tended to ‘pussy-foot’ around
issues; but realised that unfortunately it is not how the world of business
operates. Friendship does not pay the bills; but those invoices and salaries
still need to be paid at the end of the month. Tough decisions need to be made
when friendships and business is on the line.
My advice - keep them
very far apart, and may they never meet.
Interestingly I read the
following on the plane back from Bloemfontein this morning – from Sun Tzu’s The
Art of War –
(On soldiers) - if you are so nice to them that you cannot
employ them, so kind to them that you cannot command them, so casual with them
that you cannot establish order, they are like spoiled children, useless.
(Master Sun)
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