Are you thinking of starting a joint business with your friend/acquaintance you met during your study? Forget it, forget it right now.
For every successful project, there are hundreds of failed starts that arise and die quietly, without fireworks and unnecessary noise. Of course, you tend to think that your particular duo a la “Batman and Robin” will definitely succeed, but with a 99.998% probability, this will not happen.
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Why Not Start a Business With A Study Buddy
Such figures are cited in research by Michael Fertik, an entrepreneur who has worked as a chief executive officer in IT and law firms. At the same time, it should be understood that this statistic is true for the United States, where business lives and is built in a more vibrant environment.
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Problem #1
The first problem that arises when deciding to start such a business is attitude. Often, people who are trained in the same specialized institution (university or institute faculty, business school, courses), look at the surrounding things in approximately the same way and generally similarly treat everything. Often it is just the worldview that leads them to the same educational institution. It would seem that common views are exactly what is needed to conduct a common cause.
Unfortunately, in such a company of like-minded people, there will be no criticism. The same critic, who will ask difficult, uncomfortable questions, look at the business idea from a different angle, test it for survivability in conditions close to the harsh reality.
Without such a critic, the idea of like-minded people looking at their future in one vector will turn out to be one-sided and ill-conceived. A kind of fictional pink world with ponies and rainbows, in which everything is fine, but only for the creators themselves.
With a high probability, the business, or rather the products and services that it will offer, will encounter people who think completely differently. And then there is such an objective concept as the market, and only really great businesses survive there, the reasonableness of which has been analyzed from all angles and positions.
Problem #2
Single-profile specialists are strong in their field, but in this case, the lack of the necessary knowledge and experience, for example, in the practical implementation of the idea, will lead to failure. Any project requires technologists — those who will build everything.
You also need someone who knows everything about the market that the business claims to be in. Someone who can present the product in the best light and will communicate with the press and people.
Problem #3
You and your friend may have the same study background, but you don’t know anything about their values. In the process of learning, it may seem that the people around you have the same views and principles. It was fun when you were studying together, but until you ask each other direct, hard, and specific questions, you’re taking a lot of risks.
Disagreements that have not shown themselves before, will surely come up at the most important moment for the company. My study buddy helped me a lot, so I could get essay help, but everything is completely different in real life.
The co-founder decided to contact dishonest people? Are you ready to hide your income, trying to deceive the tax service? Each of us has clearly defined principles that we follow. Are you sure you know each other that well?
Problem #4
Business is always fraught with nerves and is itself an ideal source of conflict. Do you think that you and your friend have an identical view of doing business, and he will go with you to the end? Not at all. Every person has a line that he will not dare to cross. Everyone has their acceptable share of risk.
In one of the difficult moments, your friend will come home, see the family, meet the eyes of his daughter, remember how unstable the business is now, and just forget about your common goal, going along the path of “normal” nine to five job. The need to make difficult decisions every day can break the will, and a start-up business is quite feverish.
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Problem #5
Last on the list — your friend is much worse than you think. Try to conduct a short survey among your friends on this topic. Most people think they know their surroundings well. However, if you ask someone if they know him, the answer is definitely “no”. And it’s true. We always play some roles, and the learning process is such an artificial environment that people there are not who they really are.
It is unlikely that you will immediately marry a man you met on vacation and spent all the time under the palm trees. After all, you can’t even imagine what it will be like in everyday life. A seemingly successful student is not a successful entrepreneur. It’s just a student coping with his studies.
We can not say that a classmate is a completely bad option for a joint business. That’s just for the case, you will need a person who can withstand all the hardships and solve the problems facing a young entrepreneur. It is not important if he was your friend during your studies or not — this factor should not be the determining factor.