All You Need Is Love . . . ?

From the other side of the globe, I came across an interesting post on “Mixing Business with Friendship,” which adds a slightly different nuance to our earlier friends and family post.  It agrees that “[n]o one can be a partner, simply because he or she is your friend.”  It also points out how deceptively comfortable it can seem to take on a friend as a business partner because of the level of closeness you may have shared on other issues.

Family loyalties can create their own problems.  As the author notes:

at some Indian businesses, where third-generation members were inducted solely because of their family ties, it’s clear that they didn’t have either the passion or skills for the business.

So whether it’s the family members who are eager to insinuate themselves into your company, or it’s you who’s eager for the (potentially) cheap labor or capital, tread carefully.  Leave all emotions, desires, and psychological manipulations aside:  would you take on this person as a partner (or take their money as an investor) if they weren’t a family member?

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