Doing business with friends and family?
Doing business with friends and relatives is always tricky. And many people advice against doing it as it could affect the relationship.
But at the same time, you already have trust of these people and it is easy to make them your clients rather than a complete stranger.
What do you think about this problem?
Setting a good set of foundational rules before going into business with friends and family is crucial. I think all parties need to be on the same page when it comes to the goals and how decisions get made. If you can agree that decisions should be made based off of proof, then things will probably be ok.
There will inevitably be frustrations and differences of opinion, but if you have a good way to determine value (defined success measurements) and are capable of running experiments to test all parties ideas, then there is little harm in working with people you know intimately.
Of note, I agree with Wouter, definitely be upfront about the risks and make sure all involved are comfortable with what happens during failure as well as success.
Right. Thanks for sharing your views!
The danger of working with friends and family is the downside when something goes wrong. Negative effects of your business could affect your relationship, also in the long run. I would always discuss this risk upfront before going into business together, especially if you are close to someone.
If you are taking them on to be your clients, take even more effort to make sure you always handle things correctly and be super lenient with refunds etc when they are not happy. It's not worth it to gamble your relationship about a little revenue.
Completely agree! That small revenue is not worth if you lose out on a relation.
I've worked with my husband for many years, it has worked well. :)
Could you please share - what according to you is the reason that it has worked well?
He does what I ask :D
But seriously, a mix of skills, I'm good at all things community, marketing, making decisions on what to build, he is great at tech and business/finance management.
Haha :D
Complimentary skill set is the key here.